THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/readingsformonthOOsewe 
 


 
 

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 READINGS EOR A MONTH 
 
 NEW-YORK ; 
 
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 PEEFACE. 
 
 The following papers may^ it is trusted^ be 
 found useful to young persons aroongst the 
 educated classes, in their preparation for Con- 
 firmation. 
 
 The original intention of the Compiler was 
 to leave them without any addition ; but at the 
 request of a friend, a few Suggestions for Self- 
 Examination, &c., have been added, under the 
 idea of assisting those unaccustomed to the 
 task, in the difficult but necessary inquiry as to 
 the state of their own minds. 
 
 The suggestions will, it is hoped, be gen- 
 erally used with the sanction of a Clergy- 
 man, who may be able to point out anything in 
 them which may seem undesirable for indi- 
 vidual cases. 
 
 G67187 
 

KEADINGS FOR A MONTH 
 
 PREPARATORY TO 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 [N'ote. — In case it should, in any instance, be difficult to 
 find sufficient leisure for an attentive perusal of all these pa- 
 pers previous to Confirmation, it may be well to say that the 
 most important, by way of preparation, are the following : — 
 ‘ Baptism and Confirmation,” “ Review of Life,” ** To renounce 
 the Devil,” The World,” and “The Flesh,” “The Creed,” 
 “ Keeping the Commandments of God,” “ The Holy Commu- 
 nion.” The others may be read afterwards.] 
 
 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 “ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto 
 me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz- 
 ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” 
 — St. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. 
 
 He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
 not shall be damned.” — S t. Mark xvi. 16. 
 
 “Eepent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ 
 for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 For the promise is unto you and unto your children, and to all that are afar 
 off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” — Acts ii. 38, 39. 
 
 “ After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man ap- 
 
6 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH, 
 
 peared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, bnt accord- 
 ing to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour.” — Titus iii. 4, 5, 6, * 
 
 “ Baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away the filth of the 
 flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus Christ.” — 1 St. Petek iii. 21. 
 
 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ 
 were baptized into His death. Therefore we are buried with Him by Bap- 
 tism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the 
 glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” — Rom. 
 vi. 8, 4. 
 
 “ Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the 
 blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, 
 through the veil, that is to say, His flesh ; and having an High Priest over 
 the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of 
 faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
 washed with pure water.” — Heb. x. 19 — 22. 
 
 “ Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto per- 
 fection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, 
 and of faith towards God, of the doctrine of Baptisms and of laying on of 
 hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this 
 will we do if God permit.” — Heb. vi. 1 — 3. 
 
 “ When the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had 
 received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when 
 they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy 
 Ghost (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus), then laid they their hands on them, and 
 they received the Holy Ghost.” — Acts viii. 14 — 17. 
 
 “ Go ye therefore into all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 , Ghost.” 
 
 No words are plainer, no, not the Ten Command- 
 ments ; no tradition is more universal, no, not of Scrip- 
 ture itself. Christ appointed His disciples to baptize 
 with water, and they did so, and their successors after 
 them ; not expounding, but obeying the command of 
 their Lord, which was almost the last that He spake 
 ‘ upon earth. 
 
BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 7 
 
 God put a good mind into us, and reform one great 
 fault in us ; which is, that our Baptism being passed 
 over a great while ago, we cast it out of our memory, 
 and meditate but little upon the benefits and comforts 
 of it. 
 
 We are got into a Church, and do in a sort forget 
 how we got in ; whereas the whole life of a Christian 
 man and woman should be a continual reflection how 
 in Baptism we entered into covenant with Christ, to be- 
 lieve in Him, to serve Him, to forsake the devil, the va- 
 nities of the world, and all sinful desires of the flesh. 
 Water is a clear element to look through it to the bottom ; 
 so often should we look through the sanctified water, to 
 see what Christ hath done for us, and what we have en- 
 gaged to do for Christ. 
 
 Baptism is a “ new birth,” by which we enter into the 
 new world, the new creation, the blessings of the King- 
 dom : and this is the expression which our Saviour 
 himself used to Nicodemus, “ Unless a man be born of 
 w^ater and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the King- 
 dom of God.” 
 
 God, then, has become our Father, Christ our Elder 
 Brother, the Spirit “ the earnest of our inheritance,” the 
 Church our Mother ; our food is the Body and Blood of 
 our Lord, faith is our learning, religion our employment, 
 and our whole life is spiritual, and Heaven the object of 
 our hopes, and the mighty prize of our high calling. 
 
 In Baptism all our sins are pardoned. “ According 
 to the words of a prophet : ‘ I will sprinkle clean water 
 
 upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthi- 
 ness.’” We descend into the font sinners, we arise 
 
8 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 purified ; we go down the sons of death, we come up 
 the sons of the Resurrection ; we enter in the sons of 
 folly, we return the sons of reconciliation ; we stoop down 
 the children of wrath, and ascend the heirs of mercy ; 
 we were the children of the devil, and now we are the 
 servants and the sons of God. 
 
 And Baptism does not only pardon our sins, but puts 
 us into a state of pardon for the time to come. It is the 
 beginning of the new life, and an admission of us into 
 the Gospel Covenant, which on our parts consists in a 
 sincere and timely endeavour to glorify God by faith 
 and obedience ; and on God’s part. He will pardon what 
 is past, assist us for the future, and not measure us by 
 grains and scruples, or exact our duties by the measure 
 of an angel, but by the span of a man’s hand. So that 
 by Baptism we are given over to the mercies of God, 
 and the graces of the Gospel ; that is, that our pardon 
 be continued, and our piety be a state of repentance. 
 
 And this excellence is clearly recorded by St. Paul : 
 “ After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour 
 toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done, but according to His mercy He 
 saved us that is, by gentleness and remissions, by pity- 
 ing and pardoning us, by relieving and supporting us ; 
 because He remembers that we are but dust. 
 
 He that hath once entered in at this gate of life is al- 
 ways in possibility of pardon, if he be in a possibility of 
 working and doing, after the manner of a man, that 
 which he had promised to the Son of God. For the 
 Scriptures say, that the washing of regeneration purgeth 
 away all our sins : it doth not speak only of sins past, 
 
BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 9 
 
 as if it did operate no longer than in that moment when 
 the water is sprinkled ; for “ Baptism doth now,” at the 
 present time, “ save us.” By grievous and presumptu- 
 ous sins we debar ourselves from the comfort of the 
 covenant for the present ; yet when we repent, we come 
 not to make a new covenant with God, but to beseech 
 Him to be gracious to us for the old covenant’s sake ; 
 as a woman who hath forsaken her husband, if she be 
 received again and pardoned, is not new married, but 
 accepted for a wife upon the first contract of marriage. 
 Far be it from me to say that it sufficeth us to cast our 
 eyes back to the covenant then made, as if the bare me- 
 mory of it did suffice to blot out sins ; that is but an 
 empty fiash, and a^ vapour of presumption. But this I 
 say, — Build upon the eternity and infallibility of God’s 
 truth ; and then, by a true and sure grasping faith, 
 joined with repentance, renew yourself in God’s mercies 
 by the promise of the old Baptismal Covenant. 
 
 Repentance is a condition never to be omitted to lift 
 us up again when we have been overtaken with sins. 
 But faith doth not comfort itself in the sincerity of re- 
 pentance, which in us is ever imperfect, but in Christ’s 
 merits once for all, given over to us in Baptism. 
 
 Take some examples of those in the New Testament 
 that sinned against God, and in their return again did 
 not suppose the first covenant of Baptism to be abolished, 
 but they comforted themselves that the mercies promised 
 them would hold firm and not fail them. St. Paul says 
 of the Corinthians that they had been grievous sinners, 
 yet he speaks thus to them : “Ye are washed, sanctified, 
 justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.” In the same 
 1 * 
 
10 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH, 
 
 manner he deals with the Galatians, who had embraced 
 much false doctrine, mingled J udaism with the Gospel : 
 yet he says, “ As many of you as are baptized into 
 Christ have put on Christ.” 
 
 But in proportion to this doctrine it is, that the Holy 
 Scripture calls upon us to live a holy life in pursuance 
 of this grace of Baptism. 
 
 Baptism makes us children, and such as are to be 
 saved by faith, that is, a covenant “ not of works,” but 
 of pardon in Jesus Christ. Besides this we have no 
 hopes. But the several states of sin are so many fallings 
 away from the state of baptismal grace ; and therefore 
 the same apostle, St. Paul, requires us “ to make our 
 calling and election sure ;” that is, ta do all that which 
 may continue us in our state of Baptism : for between 
 the two states of absolute apostasy from, and entirely 
 adhering to, this state of calling and election, are all 
 the intermediate sins, and being overtaken in single 
 faults, or declining towards vicious habits, which in 
 their several proportions are degrees of danger and in- 
 security. 
 
 For let us remember, the Holy Spirit descends upon 
 us in Baptism to become the principle of a new life, to 
 become a holy seed springing up to holiness. We are 
 marked for God, as the sheep of His pasture, as the sol- 
 diers of His army, as the servants of His household. 
 We are so separated from the world, that we are appro- 
 priated to God. So that God expects of us duty and 
 obedience ; and all sins are acts of rebellion and undu- 
 tifulness. 
 
 Yet, although by Baptism we are adopted to the in- 
 
BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 11 
 
 lioritance of sons, admitted to the covenant of repentance, 
 and engaged to lead a good life ; until we receive the 
 Spirit of Confirmation, we are but babes in Christ. And, 
 therefore, as God at first appointed us a ministry of a 
 new birth, so also hath given to His Church the 
 ministry of a new strength.' The Spirit moved a little 
 upon the waters of Baptism, and gave us the principles 
 of life ; but in Conirmation He makes us able to move 
 of ourselves. In the first He is the Spirit of Life ; but 
 in this He is the Spirit of Strength and motion ; and 
 as we are baptized into the death and resurrection of 
 Christ, so in Confirmation we are renewed in the inner 
 man, and strengthened in all our holy vows and purposes 
 by the Holy Ghost, ministered according to God’s ordi- 
 nance. 
 
 For the holy rite of Confirmation is a Divine ordi- 
 nance, and it produces Divine effects, and is ministered 
 by Divine persons — that is, by those whom God hath 
 sanctified and separated to this ministration. At first, 
 all that were baptized were also confirmed ; and ever 
 since, all good people that have understood it, have been 
 very zealous for it ; and time was in England, ever since 
 the beginning of the Keformation, when Confirmation 
 had been less carefully administered for about six years, 
 when the people had their first opportunities of it re- 
 stored, they ran to it in so great numbers, that churches 
 and churchyards would not hold them. But men have 
 too much neglected all the ministries of grace, and this 
 most especially, and have not given themselves to a right 
 understanding of it, and so neglected it the more. 
 
 Yet Confirmation is a plant of our Heavenly Father’s 
 
12 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 planting. It springs from the root Christ Jesus, it was 
 actually practised by the apostles, and is established and 
 passed into a Christian doctrine ; imposition of hands 
 being reckoned by St. Paul a fundamental point. 
 
 Confirmation, indeed, is not necessary as Baptism 
 and repentance ; for without these salvation cannot be 
 had. Yet, if a man would not become weak, it is ne- 
 cessary that he eat his meat well. And so Confirmation 
 is necessary, that the spiritual life and the health gotten 
 in Baptism may be preserved in strength against our 
 spiritual enemies. For Confirmation is the perfection 
 and strength of Baptism and baptismal grace. In Bap- 
 tism we undertake to do our duty, but in Confirmation 
 we receive strength to do it ; in Baptism others promise 
 for us, in Confirmation we undertake for ourselves ; we 
 ease our godfathers and godmothers of their burden, 
 and take it upon our own shoulders, together with the 
 advantage of the prayers of the Bishop and all the 
 Church made then on our behalf. In Baptism we give 
 up our name to Christ ; but in Confirmation we put our 
 seal to the profession, and God puts His seal to the pro- 
 mise. 
 
 Confirmation is called a seal or signature, as being 
 a guard and custody to us, and a sign of the Lord’s do- 
 minion over us. The confirmed person is “ a sheep that 
 is marked,” which thieves do not so easily steal and 
 carry away.^ He is sealed for the service of God unto 
 the day of redemption ; that whereas God hath laid up 
 an inheritance for us in the kingdom of heaven, and in 
 the faith of that we must live and labour, to confirm 
 this faith, God hath given us this pledge.) The Spirit 
 
BAPTISM AND CONFIHMATION. 
 
 13 
 
 of God is a witness to us, and tells us by His holy com- 
 forts, by the peace of God, and the quietness and refresh- 
 ments of a good conscience, that God is our Father, that 
 we are His sons and daughters, and shall be coheirs with 
 Jesus in His eternal kingdom. 
 
 And now, if any man shall say, we see no such 
 things as you talk of, and find the confirmed people the 
 same after as before, no better and no wiser, not more 
 comforted with hope, or established by faith, or built up 
 with charity, they neither speak better nor live better, — 
 what then ? 
 
 Does it therefore follow that the Holy Ghost is not 
 given in Confirmation ? Nothing less. For is not Christ 
 given in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper ? Do we 
 not receive His body and blood ? Are we not made all 
 one with Christ, and He with us ? And yet it is too 
 true, that when we arise from that holy feast, thousands 
 there are that find no change. 
 
 If we do not find the effects of the Spirit in Confir- 
 mation, it is our faults. For He is intended only as a 
 help to our endeavours, to our labours and prayers. 
 Unless we in these instances do our part of the work, it 
 will be no wonder if we lose His part of the blessing. 
 
 He that comes under the Bishop’s hands to receive 
 / the gift of the Holy Ghost, will come with holy desires 
 ^ and a longing soul. He will purify the house of the 
 Spirit for the entertainment of so Divine a guest ; he 
 will receive Him with humility, and follow Him with 
 obedience, and delight Him with purities ; and he that 
 does thus, let him make the objection if he can, and tell 
 me, does he live by the Spirit ? Does he obey His com- 
 
14 READINGS FOti A MONTli\ 
 
 mands ? Hath he no earnest desires to serve God ? If 
 he have iK)t, then in vain hath he received either Bap- 
 tism or Confirmation. But if he have, it is certain that 
 of himself he cannot do these things ; he cannot of 
 himself think a good thought. Does he therefore think 
 well ? That is from the Holy Spirit of God. He that 
 confirmeth or establisheth us with you in Christ is God.” 
 
 Thou then (who art confirmed) dost receive the spi- 
 ritual signature ; the spirit of Wisdom and Understand- 
 ing ; the Spirit of Counsel and Strength, the Spirit of 
 Knowledge and Godliness, the Spirit of Holy Fear* 
 Keep what thou dost receive. The Father sealeth thee, 
 and Christ thy Lrord confirmeth thee by His Divine 
 spirit, and He will never depart from thee, unless by 
 evil works thou dost estrange Him from thee. 
 
 Forget not how great things ye have received, and 
 what God hath done for you. Ye are of His flock and 
 His militia ; ye are to fight His battles, and therefore to 
 put on His armour, and to implore His help, and to 
 make use of His streng'.h, and always to be on His side 
 against all His and all our enemies. 
 
 You have been spared by God to those yeare that 
 you can consider what benefits you have by renewing 
 and keeping your baptismal vow, and what sad miseries 
 you run into by breaking it. Remember, therefore, as 
 the Greek Church speaks to the catechumen after his 
 solemn promise to be a Christian, — The bonds are 
 now sealed, and Christ hath received them who is in 
 heaven. Mind your promise, and fulfil your engage- 
 ment, which will openly be produced at the Day of 
 Judgment. Take heed you blush not at Christ’s dread- 
 
BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 
 
 15 
 
 fill tribunal, where all the powers of heaven tremble, 
 and all mankind stands to be judged; where the devil 
 will be present to accuse you, saying, ‘ Lord, this wretch 
 in word renounced me, but in deed was my servant.’ 
 Then angels shall sigh, and holy men shall bewail your 
 misery. But father nor mother cannot help you, bre- 
 thren and friends will not own you, but every man shall 
 be naked and destitute. Consider, therefore, and pro- 
 vide for your own safety.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions^ <hc. 
 
 Think whether you are firmly resolved to choose decid- 
 edly the service of God, and to follow it from henceforth at 
 all risks. ' 
 
 Consider whether, as a test of your own sincerity, you are 
 willing at the present moment to give up any pleasures or 
 amusements, however innocent, which may take up the time 
 that ought to be given to the solemn preparation for Confir- 
 mation. 
 
 Think whether you are depending upon your strength 
 with the same kind of feeling which a soldier may be sup- 
 posed to have when he is going to battle ; or whether, know- 
 ing your own weakness, you are trusting entirely to the aid 
 of God’s Holy Spirit. This may be proved by considering 
 whether the earnest resolutions which at times you make, 
 are instantly followed by prayer for help. 
 
 Think whether, during your past life, you have tried to 
 keep in mind the privileges of your Baptism, and to be 
 thoroughly grateful for them ; and if the blessings of your 
 Baptism have made but little impression upon you, consider 
 whether you have not great cause to fear lest your Confir- 
 mation should in like manner be forgotten. 
 
 If you thus see your own danger, consider whether you 
 are steadfastly resolved, through God’s help, to take the 
 
IG 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 earliest opportunity of receiving the Holy Communion, and 
 never from negligence to lose any after occasion of partaking 
 of that inestimable benefit, that being thus united yet more 
 closely to your Redeemer, you may be enabled “so to pass 
 through the waves of this troublesome world, that finally 
 you may come to the land of everlasting life.” 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 O Holy and Eternal Saviour, who in Thine own Person 
 wert pleased to sanctify the waters of Baptism, and by Thy 
 institution and commandment didst make them effectual to 
 excellent pur})oses of grace ; be pleased to pardon my sad 
 fallings away from that state of favour in which Thou didst 
 plant me by Thy mercy ; and help me heartily to renew all 
 the promises by which I was bound when Thou didst first 
 make me Thy own portion and admit me into Thy Holy co- 
 venant. Let that Spirit which moved upon those Holy wa- 
 ters never be absent from me, but call upon me and arouse 
 me by daily inducements to holiness. Enable me thankfully 
 to embrace every opportunity of receiving fresh grace in the 
 Holy Communion ; and grant that I may never return to the 
 dominion of sin ; but by the answer of a good conscience may 
 please Thee, and glorify Thy name in this world, and be pre- 
 sented to Thee pure and spotless in the day of Thy power, 
 when Thou shalt lead Thy Church to a kingdom and endless 
 glory. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; but the Lord pondereth 
 ■ the heart.” — Prov. xxi. 2. 
 
 “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who 
 can know it? ” — Jeremiah xvii. 9. 
 
 “ Who can say, I have made my heart clean ; I am pure from my sin ? ” 
 — Prov. xx. 9. 
 
 “ God looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted 
 that which was right, and it profited me not. He will deliver his soul from 
 going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” — fJoB xxxiii. 27, 28. 
 
 “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and 
 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John i. 9. 
 
 “ He that covereth his sins shall not prosper ; but whoso confesseth and 
 forsaketh them shall have mercy. Happy is the man that feareth alway; 
 but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief,” — Prov. xxviii. 13, 14. 
 
 “ Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” 
 — Prov. iv. 23. 
 
 “ Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn and He will 
 heal us, He hath smitten and He will bind us up. After two days will He 
 revive us ; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His 
 sight.” — Hosea vi. 1, 2. 
 
 “ Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; 
 and see if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way 
 everlasting.” — Psalm cxxxix, 23. 
 
 “ I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.” — 
 Psalm cxix. 59. 
 
 “I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. 
 I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ; and Thou forgavest 
 the iniquity of my sin.” — Psalm xxxii. 5. 
 
 “ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 J esus came into the world to save sinners.” — 1 Tim. i. 15. 
 
 The great destroyer of the souls of men, which 
 throughout the whole world is so widely wasting, is not 
 so much wilful deliberate sin, as thoughtlessness. We 
 
18 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 are walking at random, with no guard over our senses, 
 no heed to our companions, not looking to our steps ; 
 and sin comes upon us, and, ere we know it, has the mas- 
 tery over us. We flee not occasions of sin ; trust our- 
 selves very near it : Satan unseen drives us on ; the 
 place whereon we stand is slippery ; we fall in. We 
 know not ourselves, nor the strength of temptation, nor 
 the deceitfulness of Satan, nor our own weakness, nor 
 the strength and help of God ; and while we think we 
 stand, we are fallen. Again and again we begin on the 
 course which ever ends in sin, and think we will stop 
 short this time though we never did before ; or we think 
 of something short of it, in order not to think of the sin 
 itself. Thus a young person tempted to lie, will resolve 
 not to think whether it will lie or not until the very mo- 
 ment that the lie may be told, without steadily thinking 
 on it. People go to bed prayerless again and again, 
 thinking they may say their prayers without the effort 
 or solemn act of kneeling, although they know how 
 often they have thus fallen asleep, with scarce one thought 
 of asking pardon, or God’s fatherly care. They put off 
 duties, although they know that this always ends in 
 their not doing them, because they will not do them, 
 yet dare not say “ I will not they say “ I go, Sir,” and 
 go not. 
 
 Or they will hurry to their sin, as even Judas did to 
 that last sin which filled up the measure of his wicked- 
 ness : “ He went immediately out,” the Gospel says, “ and 
 it was night.” He could not bear to stay in the pre- 
 sence of his Master, whom he would betray. And sin- 
 ners now go forth quickly out of themselves, that they 
 may escape the presence of God within them rebuking 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 19 
 
 them. They will sin hastily, impetuously, m order to 
 ^avoid the struggle of conscience. 
 
 Since, then, persons come so slowly to full, deliberate 
 sin, what is the parent of this mass of sin wherewith we 
 are encompassed ? what is it which, day by day, is de- 
 stroying souls? Thoughtlessness. At first persons do 
 not think ; then, they will not think ; at last, they can- 
 not think. The world invites them out of themselves ; 
 Satan shows them, in his mirror, glories, beauties, enjoy- 
 ments, for a long time to come ; he goes before them, 
 and his flock, “ the flock of the slaughter,” follow him ; 
 he is merry with them, applauds them, echoes their 
 laugh, heightens their feasts, inflames them, makes the 
 wine sparkle’ and give its colour aright, dances before 
 them, until, in mirth, and revelry, and forgetfulness of 
 self, they dance after him to the brink of hell. “ The 
 harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe and wine are in 
 their feasts,” says the prophet Isaiah ; but what follows ? 
 — “ They regard not the work of the Lord, neither con- 
 sider the operation of His hand.” 
 
 Our Lord, in foretelling the Day of Judgment, does 
 not mark out open sins. He warns us against that one 
 sin which shall run through all the rest, “ thoughtless- 
 ness,” thought (that is) of the things of this life, thought* 
 lessness of Him their Maker, and of the end of their 
 being, and wherein it should end, in heaven or hell. 
 
 For this is the history of most of mankind : a thought- 
 less childhood, careless youth, too thoughtful manhood ; 
 one half of life without thought, the other with mis- 
 placed thought ; thoughtful of things of time and sense, 
 thoughtless of Him who made them and of their real 
 selves. 
 
20 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 What is the life of most of us, even if we are in 
 some degree engaged in the works of our calling, in 
 things in which we might please God, and, through the 
 Blood of our Redeemer, gain heaven ? How very few 
 are they who, in the morning, ever set steadily before 
 themselves the temptations, duties, of the day ; in what 
 things they most often fail, wherein they can amend ; 
 and form one earnest purpose to give themselves during 
 the day to God, and shape the actions of the day as 
 shall please him ! How very few enter upon any of theil 
 every-day trials (however often they may have failed) 
 with prayer to God for help ! How few with any pre- 
 paration at all ! how few even know what some of their 
 chiefest trials are ! how few know, except in some half- 
 way, that they have ever failed at all ! People are cov- 
 etous, luxurious, slothful, envious, proud, angry, glutton- 
 ous ; they speak ill of others, or against them, irreverently, 
 vainly, and know not that they have done so. Act 
 follows on act, and word on word, chasing one another, 
 sweeping over one another, like wave on wave; and 
 what remains in the memory ? How few call themselves 
 really, evening by evening, to any account ! 
 
 Yet what should we think of one who left his house, 
 or any thing he does value, as unguarded as men are 
 daily content to leave their souls ? What of one who 
 took no more account of his worldly affairs day by day, 
 or year by year ? And is then that thought with regard 
 to the soul, which would be thoughtlessness as to body 
 or estate ? Is that watchfulness as to the deadly enemy 
 of our soul, which would be recklessness as to bodily 
 foes ? Are Heaven and Hell, God and Satan, everlasting 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE, 
 
 21 
 
 joy and woe, God’s presence and His threats, a dream ? 
 or are men thoughtlessly dreaming on to the very brink 
 of Hell ? 
 
 “ I thought on my ways,” says the Psalmist, “ and 
 turned my feet unto Thy testimonies ” I thought, or — 
 more fully, in God’s own language — ‘‘ I took account of,” 
 “reckoned up,” “calculated,” “my ways.” For our 
 ways, although leading in one direction, are many ; — 
 there are as many ways as there are acts, or passions, or 
 temptations; and he “reckoned them up” and took 
 “ account of” them all, whither they were all leading, to 
 turn them all and his own self into the way of God. He 
 would henceforth not try to walk on two ways, as so 
 many do, unwilling to part wholly with God, or yet with 
 their sins ; he wished henceforth to give himself wholly 
 to God, and so he reviewed all, took account of all, lest 
 any thing should escape him, and he slip back to evil. 
 
 And if the Psalmist knew not of his ways before he 
 thus pondered and weighed them, how can we think 
 that we are safe if we “ think not ” on our ways ? How 
 can we be forgiven our sins, unless we repent of them ? 
 or repent of them, unless we know them? or know 
 them, unless we think on them ? We know indeed, in 
 a general way, where we have passed our lives, what has 
 been our bodily employment, with whom we have lived 
 and conversed. But our lives are not the mere outward 
 life of the body ; they are chiefly the life of the soul ; 
 not merely what we did, spake, thought, — but why we 
 did what we did ; whether we lived, acted, thought, with 
 a view to God, or to the world and ourselves. Neither 
 can we understand what we are now, unless we look 
 
22 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 back, as far as we may, on what we have been. The 
 same state, in outward show, will be very different as 
 persons are sinking down or rising up, going on or re- 
 turning. Two men may be alike out of the road ; yet 
 if the one is leaving the right road, the other striking 
 back into it, their ends will be very different. This or 
 that act may be a sin of weakness, or negligence, or 
 ignorance; but if often repeated, and not repented, it 
 will be known sin. And so we cheat ourselves. We 
 forget that to-day’s act of gluttony, or levity, or self-will, 
 or seeking man’s praise, if it be added to those of former 
 days, is not merely a slight sin, but is making us what 
 Scripture calls gluttons, or vain, or heady persons. We 
 do not see that no conscious sin is slight; nothing 
 whereof any is but half-conscious that it is sin ; — that 
 the subtlest may be the most deadly. 
 
 Yet be not disheartened because it seems so great a 
 task to review the ways of life. God asketh of us what 
 we can do, not what we cannot ; and what God teacheth 
 us to do, he enables us to do, as far as is needed. ' If 
 we do what we can. He who by His grace enables us to 
 do it, and for His mercy sake accepts it, will supply what 
 is lacking either to our knowledge of our sins or to our 
 repentance. 
 
 Only be in earnest, and pray to be so. Look back 
 into thyself ; try to bring before you your earliest life. 
 Recall in it the faults you can remember, — the sins of 
 childhood are the images and shadows of the deeper 
 sins of the full-grown being ; and some deceit to cover 
 a childish fault, some wrong curiosity, some unchecked 
 feeling of envy or jealousy, some indulged anger or 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 23 
 
 wrong desire of human praise or vanity, some preference 
 of self, emulation of others, have proved, alas ! too often, 
 the forerunners of years of deadly sin, or of a wrong 
 aim in all life, or the eating out and cankering of that 
 which was good. 
 
 Do this in mind, under the eye of your merciful 
 Redeemer. Pray Him, who searcheth the hearts and 
 reins, to lay open thine own to thee, and to have com- 
 passion on thee. It may be that thou wilt find what 
 thou hast hitherto thought good in thee, melt away be- 
 fore the fire of His Holy presence. Yet even thus, own 
 unto Him that “ thou art wretched, and miserable, and 
 poor, and blind, and naked,” and buy of Him, as He 
 biddeth thee, “ gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest 
 be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, 
 and the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; and 
 anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.” 
 Fall down before Him with the leper in the Gospel, and 
 say, “ Lord, if Thou wilt. Thou canst make me clean ;” 
 and He will say unto thee also, “ I will : be thou clean.” 
 
 He who was crucified for thee, will strengthen thee. 
 Only, when thy heart is set at liberty, pray that thou 
 mayest “ run^ ” the way of God’s Commandments. 
 “ Make haste, and delay not, to keep God’s Command- 
 ments.” Nothing besides lingers. Time is swe^ing 
 by. Thy life hasting away. The Day of Judgment 
 is drawing on. Eternity is at hand. The Judge is at 
 the door. Year by year whirls on more rapidly. Thy 
 way if it be" not turned backward to God, is hurrying 
 thee onward away from Him and to the pit. If not 
 nearer day by day it becomes farther. 
 
24 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Thou canst not think that thou wast made in the 
 image of God, redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ, 
 endowed with His Spirit, called to His Faith, waited for 
 by His Grace, watched over by His Providence, tended 
 by angels, chosen to be set among them in His Presence 
 in everlasting bliss, to enter into the joy of thy Lord, 
 and be nothing more than now thou art ! 
 
 Choose, then, with steadfast heart, Him who hath 
 chosen thee ; love Him who hath loved thee. “ Make 
 haste, and delay not.” He will give thee “ grace for grace,” 
 lead thee “ from strength to strength ;” and if in ear- 
 nest thou seek Him now, and give thyself wholly to Him, 
 He will accomplish in thee all His works, and form thee 
 to the full stature of His grace and love for which He 
 made thee ; .that thou mayest love Him with an ever- 
 lasting love, in overflowing joy, and transporting glory, 
 and never-sating, ever-satisfying bliss, in Himself, the 
 Fountain of all bliss and good. 
 
 The examination which follows will probably occupy 
 several days. A certain specified time may be devoted to it, 
 and the result written down in the manner described at the 
 close of the questions. This will carry on the mind from 
 day to day, and when, by this means, a general idea of the 
 past, and of the character in review, has been formed, the 
 paper may be destroyed. 
 
 The suggestions given are, however, only intended as an 
 assistance in the duty of self-examination. They are not 
 meant to burden the conscience ; and it will probably be im- 
 possible to attend to them all on one occasion. But if the 
 chief ev€7its of life are first remembered and noted down to 
 serve as landmarks, the inquiry to be made will become com- 
 paratively easy. Certain marked seasons standing out prom- 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 25 
 
 inently in the memory, will necessarily recall the actions 
 and feelings asociated with them, and these will naturally 
 bring back others. 
 
 If only tliree or four points can be considered at a time, 
 yet they will soon give a distinct view of the life gone by; 
 and show the peculiar temptations to which each person 
 may be exposed. Subjoined is a specimen of the manner in 
 which such a self-examination may be carried on when there 
 is sufficient leisure. But it is not necessary to write. Some 
 persons cannot express themselves readily in writing: others 
 are too much occupied, or have not the means of doing it. 
 Each must judge for himself. Only, when the time allotted 
 for the duty has been properly spent, and some idea has been 
 gained of the points under consideration, a full confession of 
 the particular faults that have been discovered, and an 
 earnest entreaty for help for the future, should be made in 
 the prayer at the close of the chapter. 
 
 It appears desirable that, if possible, this general review 
 of the past should be undertaken before proceeding any fur- 
 ther in the readings which follow ; and, if time should not 
 afterwards allow of sufficient attention being given to all 
 the papej’s before Confirmation, it will be well to remember 
 that the chapters mentioned in the note at the beginning of 
 the volume are of the chief importance as a preparation. 
 The others may be studied when there is more leisure. 
 
 Young persons at school have frequently no privacy, and 
 very little leisure ; yet there is probably no case in which 
 the resolute determination to look back upon the past, and 
 examine daily into one or two of the points suggested, is not 
 practicable. 
 
 We carry on our thoughts, when they are pleasant to us, 
 in the midst of the busiest scenes; and He, who watches our 
 hearts, will hear and accept the very briefest prayer for par- 
 don and for help. 
 
 Two cautions may perhaps be necessary upon the subject 
 of self-examination. When the point in question has been 
 considered, and the fault discovered and confessed, it is not 
 2 
 
26 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 well to torment ourselves with the fear that we have not ex- 
 amined ourselves with sufficient strictness. Eather, it seems, 
 we may trust to the mercy of Him who has atoned for our 
 sins, and “is not extreme to mark what is done amiss,” and 
 allow the matter to rest, not recurring to it again. Neither 
 may we be afraid to acknowledge to ourselves that we are 
 comparatively innocent upon some points. True humility 
 consists in seeing ourselves as we are, not in owning to faults 
 which do not exist. 
 
 Considerations for Self-Examination^ d:c. 
 
 "What have been the marked periods and events of your 
 life; such as change of residence, first going to school, first 
 acquaintance with any person who has had influence over 
 you, (fee. ? 
 
 What have been your seasons of peculiar trial or enjoy- 
 ment? 
 
 What are the principal punishments you have had to bear ? 
 
 Who have been your principal companions ? 
 
 [These may all he noted down in writing^ 
 
 Prayer {before Self-Examination). 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that 
 Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that 
 are penitent, create and make in me a new and contrite 
 heart, that I, worthily lamenting my sins, and acknow- 
 ledging my wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all 
 mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Think whether you have been told of any one particular 
 fault as far back as you can remember, a fault which you 
 are conscious of now. This probably will be your besetting 
 sin. 
 
 Eecollect whether you have ever neglected your prayers 
 entirely; if you have, try to remember on what occasion, 
 and for what length of time. 
 
KKVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 27 
 
 Think also whether you have endeavoured to attend to 
 your prayers; or, if you have begun to do so, how long you 
 continued without such an endeavour. 
 
 [This does not mean that any person can succeed in en- 
 tirely shutting out wandering thoughts, but that a hearty 
 and continual effort ought to be made against them.] 
 
 Consider whether you have been grateful to Almighty God 
 for His infinite mercies in your redemption by Jesus Christ, 
 and have ever made hearty efforts to please Him as you may 
 have done to please your parents or your friends. 
 
 Consider whether in your conversation you have ever 
 taken God's Holy name in vain, or used profane or irreverent 
 words. 
 
 Perhaps you have been reproved for irreverence in church ; 
 if so, consider whether this has happened frequently, and 
 whether you have tried to amend. Even though you may 
 not have been actually reproved for irreverence, you will 
 probably find upon consideration that you frequently indulge 
 in careless habits — ^looking about, negligent postures, not 
 carefully joining in the services by repeating the responses, 
 (fee. 
 
 Think whether you have tried to give your whole atten- 
 tion when the Bible has been read either at church or at 
 home ; and whether you have prayed to God to help you to 
 attend to it, and understand it. 
 
 Recollect whether you have ever made jests upon sacred 
 subjects, or quoted Scripture irreverently ; consider also whe- 
 ther you have endeavoured to listen attentively to the 
 sermons you have heard, and whether you have allowed your- 
 self to ridicule the manner of the clergyman, or any thing 
 that he has said. 
 
 Think whether you have tried to keep Sunday holy as 
 the Lord’s day, by giving up your worldly occupations and 
 spending it quietly, or whether you have joined in idle amuse- 
 ments ; and try to recall any particular instances in which 
 you may have offended. 
 
 Consider whether, during the different periods of time 
 
28 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 which you have marked, you were generally obedient or dis- 
 obedient, and whether you have ever encouraged others in 
 disobedience, or in doing what they feared might not be right. 
 If you were disobedient, think whether there were any par- 
 ticular instances of the offence. 
 
 Think if you have any peculiar trick or habit, of which 
 vou have often been reminded, and which as yet you have 
 lever earnestly striven to overcome. 
 
 [This may seem a trifle, but it is in fact a continued self- 
 . ndulgence, and shows that you are not in earnest in trying 
 do right, and have not an obedient mind.] 
 
 Look back at the different periods of your life, and see if 
 generally you have been willing to give up your own little 
 comforts and pleasures in daily life for the sake of those about 
 you : or if you have been selfish. 
 
 fs your temper passionate, or sullen, or impatient, or fret- 
 ful, or jealous ? Consider whether you have struggled heartily 
 against it, and whether it has improved or grown worse 
 of late. Think, also, whether you are irritable in illness. 
 
 [A bad temper is very much subdued by making, not a 
 general resolution to conquer it, but one for a day, or two or 
 three days, and then watching how the resolution is kept.] 
 Your temper may be good, but you may be indolent. 
 Consider this, and think whether indolence has not often ren- 
 dered you selfish or disobedient. 
 
 If you are eager and open in your disposition, think whe- 
 ther you are apt to talk incautiously, half betraying secrets, 
 asking foolish and curious questions, remarking upon things 
 which do not concern you. 
 
 If you are shy and reserved, think whether you are not 
 often induced in consequence to neglect real duties, — hesitat- 
 ing, for instance, to show kindnesses, because you have not 
 the courage to put yourself forward. 
 
 If you are proud as well as reserved, consider whether 
 you have not thouglit it rather grand to be shut up in your- 
 self, and fancy that no one could understand you ; — and try 
 to remember whether you have not sometimes owned your 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 29 
 
 fault, with a self-satisfied feeling, imagining that you have a 
 reason for being proud because you are in fact superior to 
 others 
 
 Inquire also as to vanity, which is a most insidious fault. 
 Probably you have indulged yourself in day-dreams ; what 
 have they been about ? 
 
 [A besetting sin of vanity is often discovered by this means. 
 If we make ourselves the hero or heroine of our day-dreams, 
 and fancy ourselves objects of interest, even though we may 
 be dreaming of what seems good, — visiting the poor, or teach- 
 ing in schools, or nursing in hospitals, or braving dangers for 
 the sake of converting souls, we may be sure that we have 
 a most dangerous tendency to vanity.] 
 
 Think whether you have been accustomed to repeat to 
 yourself, again and again, the praise you may have received, 
 — whether you have thought much about your dress or per- 
 sonal appearance, — whether you have been pleased to attract 
 notice and interest from illness, or any other cause. 
 
 [These are all forms of vanity. But vanity is a feeling 
 not an action. It comes upon us before we are aware, and is 
 therefore, perhaps, more difiicult to cure than any other fault. 
 The best way of conquering it is not by reasoning against it, 
 but by checking our thoughts continually. If this is done, 
 perseveringly, we shall learn, almost, as it would seem, by 
 instinct, when our imaginations are becoming vain, and shall 
 put a stop to them without being obliged to pause and con- 
 sider ; just as we turn back suddenly; when we find ourselves 
 running into any bodily danger. There are habits of thought 
 as well as habits of action ; but they are ditficult to acquire, 
 and easily lost, and therefore, too often, persons think it im- 
 possible to attain to them. Thoughts are most easily checked , 
 by what may be called a mechanical process, repeating a line 
 of poetry for instance, or what is better, a short verse of a 
 Psalm, turning the pages of a book, speaking upon some in- 
 different subject. Even the movement of the head or the 
 hand will assist us in checking our thoughts.] 
 
 Vanity leads to envy. Consider how you generally feel 
 
30 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 when others are admired or praised ; and whether you have 
 ever allowed yourself to speak slightingly of them in conse- 
 quence, or to repeat ill-natured stories about them. 
 
 Vanity will also lead to jealousy. Think whether you 
 have been exacting as to the affections of others. 
 
 . [J ealousy is one of the most unhappy faults we can indulge, 
 and the most destroys its own object. A jealous temper 
 weakens tlie love which it longs for. The feeling is checked 
 by not allowing ourselves to show it; but, on the contrary, 
 doing kindnesses to the persons of whom we are jealous. To 
 reason with ourselves about it is not of much use.] 
 
 Think what your habits are with respect to eating and 
 drinking ; recollect whether you have indulged yourself by 
 taking things which you knew were not good for ^mu, or by 
 taking too much, or by not considering the wishes and feelings 
 of others. 
 
 Recollect whether you have ever read books which you 
 were told not to read ; or talked to your companions upon 
 subjects which you would not like to mention to your pa- 
 rents, or those set over you ; or allowed yourself in practices, 
 either by yourself, or with your companions, which you would 
 not like to have known. 
 
 [The least doubt upon this point, the slightest misgiving 
 as to whether what we are saying or doing is quite pro- 
 per, — the mere feeling, that if any one whom we respect were 
 to come into the room, we should leave off, — is a warning 
 from our conscience, and therefore, from God’s Holy Spirit, to 
 which we are bound to attend.] 
 
 Think also of the way in which you have spent your money, 
 whether upon yourself, or upon others. 
 
 If you have spent it upon others, consider whether you 
 have been willing to do so when no one could know it, or was 
 likely to praise or thank you. 
 
 [Perhaps no instance may occur to you to prove youi’self 
 on this point; but an idea of your own cliaracter maybe 
 formed by putting an imaginary case. Think what you would 
 feel if you were called upon to give a large sum, or some- 
 thing which you very much value, anonymously.] 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 31 
 
 Consider whether you have been strictly honest and con- 
 scientious in paying money which you owed ; and whether, 
 in making bargains and agreements with your companions, 
 you have ever taken any unfair advantage of them, or al- 
 lowed those who were generous to pay more than their due 
 share. 
 
 Inquire as to truth, — whether you have ever been in the 
 habit of telling lies ; try and recollect any particular instances 
 of this great sin. 
 
 If you are true in word^ examine whether you are true in 
 deed, whether you have OAvned your faults without equivoca- 
 tion, mentioning them courageously when you might have 
 hidden them ; recollect whether you have ever allowed any 
 person to be blamed unjustly for your offence. Think also 
 Avhether jmu have been careful not to exaggerate in conver- 
 sation, for the sake of telling amusing stories. 
 
 Consider whether you have been contented in whatever 
 situations you have been placed, and have been thankful to 
 Almighty God for His continued mercies. Have you, for in- 
 stance, taken your daily food, or your daily comforts, as mat- 
 ters of course, or really acknowledged them as God’s gift ? 
 
 Consider Avhether you haA^e alloAved yourself to indulge 
 vain wishes for pleasures Avhich God has thought fit to Avith- 
 hold from ymu ; and whether you have been able to look at 
 what may have appeared the superior advantages of others 
 without murmuring ; only desiring to do your duty in that 
 state of life unto Avhich it has pleased God to call you. 
 
 [These general inquiries Avill be best answered by try- 
 ing to remember whether, at any particular period of your 
 life, you can recollect indulging in discontented, repining 
 moods.] 
 
 Lastly. See Avdiether you are in the habit of owning your 
 faults, and resting contented Avith the acknoAvledgment, with- 
 out making a hearty effort, through God’s help, to subdue 
 them. 
 
 [This is a most dangerous form of self-deception. It makes 
 us fancy ourselves in earnest, and advancing, when, in fact, 
 
32 
 
 IvEADlNGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 we are going back. It is never safe to speak of a fault, unless 
 we are sincerely endeavouring to overcome it.] 
 
 Exmnple of Self-Examination. 
 
 I lived till I was years old at ; then we went 
 
 to , then to . 
 
 1 went to school, or had a governess or tutor, first when I 
 
 ■^as years of age ; since then, I have been to such or 
 
 such a school, or have had such and such a person to teach me, 
 
 I was very unhappy when died ; or when left 
 
 us ; or on leaving such a place. 
 
 I particularly enjoyed going to or staying with . 
 
 My chief companions have been , . 
 
 I have always been told that I have a bad temper ; and I 
 know that I am very often in a passion. I think ill-temper 
 is my besetting sin. 
 
 I do not recollect ever to have neglected to repeat my 
 prayers except once, when we were at 
 
 I never tried to attend to my prayers till came to live 
 
 with us ; since then I have generallj^ tried, but my thoughts 
 wander very much. 
 
 I am afraid I am very cold and ungrateful. I can never 
 scarcely feel any thing for what has been done for me ; but I 
 have tried to think about it lately a little, and I think I have 
 wished more to do right, and endeavoured more, since I knew 
 I was to be confirmed. 
 
 When I was with and , they taught me to say 
 
 bad words, partly, as they said for fun ; this was for about 
 
 • months. I never said them often ; heard me, and 
 
 told me how wicked it was, and I left it off. 
 
 and I used to play in church, and make fun of any 
 
 thing odd which we saw. This was when I was years 
 
 old. Afterwards was very strict about my behaviour,’ 
 
 and I was not irreverent when was present; but when 
 
 I was alone with and , we used to sit instead 
 
 of kneel, I do not think I am irreverent now, except in 
 
REVIEW OF LIFE. 
 
 33 
 
 looking about more than I ought. [>S^o the examination may 
 be continued.^ 
 
 PiiAYER {after Self-Examination). 
 
 O Blessed God, Father of Mercies, who hast sent Thy Son 
 to redeem us from sin and wrath, have mercy upon me, a mis- 
 erable sinner. 
 
 O Blessed Saviour Jesus, who gavest Thyself a sacrifice 
 for our sins, have mercy upon me, a sorrowful and returning 
 sinner. 
 
 O Blessed Spirit of the Father, who didst come into the 
 world to sanctify and teach it, have mercy upon me, a miser- 
 able sinner. 
 
 0 Blessed and mysterious Trinity, God the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Spirit, have mercy upon me, a perishing and miser- 
 able sinner. 
 
 Pardon, O God, the vanities of my childhood, and the sins 
 of my youth, my hastiness to evil, and unwillingness to good. 
 
 If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, 
 O Lord, who may abide it. 
 
 0 God of mercy, pardon especially \Jiere name the sins of 
 which you know yourself to he guilty.)^ 
 
 O Lord God, merciful and gracious, I pray not against 
 sorrow ; I pray Thee to increase my repentance, and enable 
 me ever truly to mourn my sins against Thee, and with great 
 caution to take care I may no more offend Thee. Especially 
 assist me to watch against \liere name the sins which yo\i have 
 a particular reason to dread, \ and teach me to employ the re- 
 maining portion of my days in peace and righteousness, 
 wisdom, and the fear of God ; that so Thou mayest vouchsafe, 
 for the merits of my most merciful Redeemer, to blot out the 
 handwriting that is against me, in the book of remembrance 
 which Thou hast written, and to grant me my portion in Thine 
 inheritance, to dwell with Thee for ever. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
 2 * 
 

 
 What is your name ? 
 
 M. or N. 
 
 Who gave you this name ? 
 
 My godfathers and godmothers in my baptism, 
 wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of 
 God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 7 
 
A MEMBER OF CHRIST. 
 
 “ As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of 
 that one body, being many, are one body ; so also is Christ. For by one 
 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, 
 whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one 
 Spirit.”—! Cor. xii. 12, 13. 
 
 “ As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 
 There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor fi*ee; there is 
 neither male nor female ; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”— Gal. hi. 27, 28. 
 
 “ We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” — Efh. 
 V. 80. 
 
 “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit.” — 1 Cor. vi. 17. 
 
 “ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in you? If any man deflle the temple of God, him shall God de- 
 stroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” — 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. 
 
 “ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
 citizens with the saints, and of the household of God ; and are built upon 
 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 
 chief corner-stone, in whom all the Building, fltly framed together, gi’oweth 
 unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for 
 an habitation of God through the Spirit.” — Eph. ii. 19 — 22. 
 
 “ These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven: Neither 
 pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on Me, through 
 their word ; that they may all be one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in 
 Thee, that they also may be one in Us. I in them, and Thou in Me, that 
 they may be made perfect in one ; and that the world may know that Thou 
 hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” — St. John xvii. 
 1. 20, 21. 23. 
 
 ‘‘Weigh well,” says an ancient, saintly bishop, 
 “ weigh well, dearest brethren, what a dignity that is, to 
 have, in the dwelling-place of the heart, the Presence 
 of God.” 
 
 This agrees with the language in which the blessings 
 
S6 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 of the Gospel are, in a marked and repeated way, ex- 
 pressed ; that we are in Christ Jesus, and that His Spirit 
 dwelleth in us. So that there are no words whereby 
 our being, as Christians, is more frequently described 
 than that we are “ in Christ.” But we can be “ in Christ ” 
 only by His taking us into Him by His Spirit. St. Paul 
 says, ‘‘ Know ye not that the Spirit of Christ is in you 
 except you be reprobates ; having been crucified with 
 Christ, it is not I which live, but Christ liveth in me.” 
 “ And of all Christians,” he says, your life is hid with 
 Christ in God.” 
 
 Christ doth not show us the way, nor give us wisdom 
 only, nor cause us to be sanctified. He himself, by the 
 condescension of His living presence in us, is our way 
 to the Father, our righteousness, and wisdom, and ac- 
 ceptableness in Him. 
 
 And this is the especial greatness of His sacraments, 
 that they are the channels whereby, through union with 
 Him, He conveys these exceeding gifts to us. All which 
 we have, we have in Him, by being made members of 
 Him. And members of Him we are made and preserved 
 through His sacraments. St. Paul oftentimes alludes to 
 Baptism as being the means whereby we were brought 
 into this mysterious union with Christ. “ For as many 
 of you,” he says, “ as have been baptized into Christ have 
 put on Christ; ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” And 
 again, “ By one spirit are we all baptized into one body ;” 
 and our Lord, in the sixth chapter of St. John, when 
 teaching the doctrine of the Holy Communion, says, “ I 
 am the living bread which came down from heaven ; he 
 that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth 
 
A MEMBER OF CHRIST. 
 
 37 
 
 ill Me, and I in him.” “ As the living Father hath sent 
 Me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth Me, he 
 also shall live by Me.” 
 
 To dwell in God is not to dwell on God only. It is 
 no mere lifting up of our affections to Him : this is our 
 seeking Him, not His taking us up ; our knocking, not 
 His opening. To dwell in God must be by His dwell- 
 ing in us. He takes us out of our state of nature, in 
 which we were fallen, estranged out of and away from 
 Him, and takes us up into Himself. He cometh to us ; 
 and if we will receive Him, He dwelleth in us, and maketh 
 His abode in us ; and by dwelling in us He makes us 
 part of Himself. Wonderful, doubtless, has it often 
 seemed to us, in reading the Old Testament, how God 
 vouchsafed to be seen by, speak to, man ; how He vis- 
 ited patriarchs, made known to them His counsels, con- 
 sulted, as it were, with them about the fate of an ungodly 
 city ; took Moses apart into His secret Presence, and 
 accepted him as an intercessor for His whole people ; 
 how He spake to Elijah in a still, small voice ; joined 
 Himself to the three children in the furnace ; revealed 
 Himself to the prophets in dreams and visions ; directed 
 them all their liyes long ; put His Word in their mouths, 
 ordered their single acts. Prophets, patriarchs, and 
 apostles seem to us, as it were, different beings from 
 ourselves, that they should have been brought into such 
 awful, tender nearness to Almighty God. 
 
 Yet greater are the wonders of the Gospel than those 
 of the Old Testament ; more marvellous the greatness 
 of the love shown to one little child, than all that tender 
 guidance wherewith He ordered the steps of Abraham, 
 
38 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 who left all to follow Him. “Verily, I say unto you,” 
 saith our Lord, “among them that are born of woman 
 there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist ; 
 notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven 
 is greater than he.” 
 
 Closer is the nearness of Almighty God to those 
 who will receive Him, than when He walked with Adam 
 in Paradise, or seemed to sit with Abraham, or to speak 
 to Moses face to face ; yea, nearer yet, than when in the 
 flesh. His disciples did eat and drink with Him, or Mary 
 sat at His Feet, or His mother carried Him in her arms, 
 or St. John lay in His Bosom, or St. Thomas thrust his 
 hand into His Side. For all this sacred, blessed near- 
 ness was still outward only. Such nearness had Judas 
 also, who kissed Him. Such nearness shall they plead 
 to whom He shall say, “ I never knew you ; depart from 
 Me, ye that work iniquity.” The Christian’s nearness 
 He hath told : “We will come unto Him, and make 
 our abode with Him,” in holiness, purity, peace, bliss, 
 cleansing love. 
 
 An awful thought is this, in the greatness of its bliss, 
 the height of its hopes, alas ! that we must add in the 
 depth of our penitence. 
 
 For of too many of us are those words true ; “ they 
 know not what they do.” 
 
 We should shrink from uttering in a church any un- 
 holy words. We should be startled if any of those 
 miserable words, which are heard in our streets, were to 
 fall upon our ear in the house of God. We could not 
 imagine ourselves there, doing any deed of shame. 
 We should there, above all places, hate an evil thought 
 which might 'be darted into our minds. 
 
A MEMBER OF CHRIST. 
 
 39 
 
 We think rightly. Natural reverence itself so 
 teaches us. 
 
 Again ; it saddens the mind, when in ungodly times, 
 the Houses of God have been defiled. We cannot bear 
 to think what it would be, there, where we have wor^ 
 shipped, that all loathsome and disgusting creatures 
 should harbour, every thing sickening to every sense, 
 every thing most revolting and unclean, should be ga- 
 thered there to defile it and make it loathsome. 
 
 We are this temple, — the Temple of God, only far 
 holier. And every thing loathsome in the whole world, 
 could it be brought together into one, is but a faint pic- 
 ture of the loathsomeness of one deadly sin. 
 
 This, then, is the intense, sickening misery of sin, 
 that it is brought close into the very presence of God 
 within us. Sins begin in thought; yet thought is of the 
 soul, and in the soul dwelleth God, the Holy Spirit. 
 
 We know not what we do. We know, perhaps, that 
 we drown the voice which checks us within, but we 
 know not that it is the very Voice of God in our soul. 
 We know that we would not do it under the eye of pa- 
 rents, or friends whom we value ; we know not that this 
 very feeling is from Him, the only friend of the soul, her 
 Father, Guardian, Comforter. We know that we could 
 not bear the thoughts we harbour to be laid bare to 
 man ; we know not that they are thought in the very 
 Presence of God. We know that we should not sin, 
 that we should serve God ; but the deadliness of sin, as 
 the blessedness of the love of God, “ eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard.” 
 
 Oh, then, since these things are so, may we not well 
 stand in awe of our very selves ? For there is no middle 
 
40 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 way. We must be tlie dwelliug-place, though we kuow 
 it not, of the good or the evil ; of the Spirit of God, or 
 of Satan. We must be indwelt; and if it be not by 
 the good, it must be by the evil. “ Grieve not away,” 
 saith the Scripture, “ the Holy Spirit of God. For if 
 the evil spirit find the dwelling-place whence he was 
 cast out, “ empty,” “ he will take to himself seven spirits 
 more wicked than himself, and will re-enter and dwell 
 there.” 
 
 Our end is to “ bear ” for ever the image of- the 
 heavenly ; “ to live with Christ, to reign with Him ; in 
 Him to be glorified ; to sit on His throne, as He is set 
 upon His Father’s throne.” But, exceeding great and 
 past all thought as this must be, the beginning of it 
 must have taken place here. They only shall bear that 
 blissful Image there, in whom it has, in its degree, been 
 retraced here. In them only shall He be “ glorified,” 
 who here, amid whatever weakness and imperfection, 
 have been changed “from glory to glory” by the Lord, 
 the Spirit. 
 
 Shall we not then cherish the godly motions of that 
 Blessed Spirit, attend to Its Guidance, listen to Its secret 
 Whisperings ; see that, neither in thought, word, or work, 
 we offend Him ; but speak, act, or think as they, who 
 are not merely flesh and blood, but are the Temples of 
 God ? As in His Holy Presence here, we should not 
 speak, or act the words or works of vanity ; so let us be 
 watchful over ourselves ever, as bearing Him about 
 every where, being ourselves every where His Temple. 
 
 Blessed they, whoever they are, who have been 
 brought to the knowledge of themselves, to see whether 
 
A MExMBEll OF CHRIST. 
 
 41 
 
 the Life of God in them is growing, or has been decay- 
 ing. Blessed even they who feel of themselves, really 
 and truly, not in words only, that they are “ poor, and 
 miserable, and blind, and naked so that this their 
 misery has indeed brought them to Him, who truly 
 alone is the medicine to heal our wounded souls ; alone 
 the true riches. Himself the Robe of righteousness, and 
 holiness, and immortality. 
 
 But blessed above all they who, while the affections 
 have yet the first glow He gave them, and the feelings 
 are not yet seared by the drying, withering love of the 
 world, — the heart yet untainted, the imagination yet 
 fresh, the memory unchoked with vanities, — give them- 
 selves up to their Lord, who gave Himself for them, to 
 love Him wholly, love Him only, with a whole heart, 
 and bright resolves, and joyous service, — bright with the 
 early dew of their baptismal morn, so to remain His 
 for ever, — His for a while here, our only joy amid this 
 fast-fleeting, unreal, shifting scene of vanity ; His for 
 ever, among the choicest jewels of His treasure, nearest 
 to Him in the radiance of His ineftable bliss. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, (he. 
 
 Think whether you have ever tried to realize to yourself 
 what it is to be a “Member of Christ;” whether you have 
 not repeated the words constantly in the Church Catechism 
 without any thought of what was meant by them. 
 
 Think of the many times when you have used your hands, 
 your eyes, any of your members, or your faculties, for unholy 
 purposes. Yet they belong to Christ, since you have been 
 made a “Member of Christ.” 
 
 Think what are the temptations which most easily lead 
 
42 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 you away from your duty as a “ Member of Christ,” — whether 
 indolence, vanity, love of excitement, hasty temper, too great 
 eagerness in your daily occupations ; and pray earnestly that 
 God would enable you to watch against them. 
 
 PRAYERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, let Thy merciful ears 
 be open to the prayers of Thine unworthy servant. I confess 
 that I have sinned against Thee in thought, word, and deed 
 [here 7nention the special sins for which you would obtain par- 
 don']. Forgive me, O Lord, forgive me ; and of Thy great 
 goodness let me be absolved from mine offences, for Thy dear 
 Son’s sake. Amen. 
 
 I bless and praise Thy name, 0 Lord, most merciful Re- 
 deemer, that Thou hast vouchsafed to admit me into the Body 
 of Thy Lloly Church, to make me a member of that Body of 
 which Thou art the Head. Enable me continually to recall 
 to mind Thy great mercies ; teach me to watch against the 
 sins which most easily beset me ; and grant that, being con- 
 formed to the likeness of Thy Death and Resurrection, by the 
 crucifying of the old man, and the newness of a holy life, I 
 may abide in Thee, and bring forth fruit in Thee, and In the 
 resurrection of the just, my body of infirmity being reformed 
 by Thy Power, I may behold Thy Face in glory, 0 Blessed 
 Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
THE CHILD OF GOD. 
 
 “ I will be a Father unto >"ou, and ye shall be ray sons and daughters, 
 saith the Lord Almighty.” — 2 Cor. vi. 18. 
 
 “ Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, 
 and Israel acknowledge us not : Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Ke- 
 deemer ; Thy Name is from everlasting.” — Isaiah Ixiii. 16. 
 
 “ Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that 
 we should be called the sons of God.” — 1 John hi. 4. 
 
 “ When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made 
 of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
 that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father. 
 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir 
 of God through Christ.” — Gal. iv. 4 — 7. 
 
 “The Spiiit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children 
 of God.” — Rom. viii. 16. 
 
 “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
 God.” — Rom. viii. 14. 
 
 “ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is per- 
 fect.” — St. Matt. v. 48. 
 
 “ Blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst 
 of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the 
 world.” — Phil. ii. 15. 
 
 “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father, which art in 
 heaven.” — St. Matt. vi. 9. 
 
 “ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a Father, will he give 
 him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ? or if 
 he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall youi 
 heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” — St. Luke 
 xi. 11—13. 
 
 “ Therefore take no thought, saying. What shall we eat ? or. What shall 
 we drink ? or. Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for after all these things 
 do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
 
44 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH 
 
 of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His right- 
 eousness : and all these things shall be added unto you.” — St. Matt. vi. 
 81 — 33 . 
 
 The first eftect of Baptism is, that in it we are ad- 
 mitted to the Kingdom of Christ, offered and presented 
 unto Him. In which certainly theie is the same bless- 
 ing to the children of Christians, as there was in pre- 
 senting the first-born among the Jews. For our children 
 can be God’s own portion as well as theirs ; and as they 
 presented the first-born to God, and so acknowledged 
 that God might have taken his life in sacrifice, as well as 
 the sacrifice of the Lamb, or the oblation of a beast ; 
 yet, when the right was confessed, God gave him back 
 again, and took a lamb in exchange, or a pair of doves ; 
 so are children now presented to God as forfeit, and God 
 might take the forfeiture, and not admit the babe to the 
 promises of grace. But when the presentation of the 
 child and our acknowledgment is made to God, God 
 takes the Lamb of the world in exchange, and He hath 
 paid our forfeiture, and the children are ‘‘ holy unto the 
 Lord.” 
 
 Our Blessed Saviour commanded, that we should 
 “ suffer little children to come to” Him ; and when they 
 came, they carried away a blessing along with them. He 
 was desirous they should partake of His merits. He is 
 not willing, neither is it His Father’s will, “ that any of 
 these little ones should perish.” And therefore He died 
 for them, and loved and blessed them ; and so He will 
 now, if they be brought to Him. Christ hath a bless- 
 ing for children ; but let them come to Him, that is, be 
 presented at the door of the church to the sacrament 
 
THE CHILD OF GOD. 
 
 45 
 
 of adoption, for I know of no other way for them to 
 come. 
 
 And now let us consider that God, having secured 
 us from the evils of nature, and represented Himself to 
 be our Fathei-, which is the greatest expression of a na- 
 tural and unalterable kindness, we may sit down and 
 reckon by great sums of His gracious gifts, and tell the 
 minutes of Eternity by the number of the Divine mer- 
 cies. For God hath given His laws to rule us, His 
 Word to instruct us, His Spirit to guide us. His angels 
 to protect us. His ministers to exhort us. He gives eter- 
 nal gifts for temporal services, and gives us whatsoever 
 we want for asking; and commands us to ask, and 
 threatens us if we will not ask, and punishes us for re- 
 fusing to be happy. 
 
 And if the mercies of giving are great, those of for- 
 giving are more, though not greater. We have but 
 small opinion of God’s fatherly mercy, if we dare not 
 believe concerning it, that it is desirous, and able, and 
 watchful, and passionate to keep us or rescue us from 
 the condemnation of hell, the pain of which is insup- 
 portable ; and the duration is eternal, and the state is a 
 state of darkness and despair, of confusion and amaze- 
 ment, anguish of spirit and gnashing of teeth, — misery 
 universal, perfect, and irremediable. This is a state that 
 God provides for His enemies, not for His children that 
 love Him, that endeavour to obey, though they do it 
 but with weakness ; that truly weep for their sins, though 
 but with a shower no bigger than the drops of pity ; that 
 wait for His coming with a holy and pure flame, though 
 their lamps are not brighter than a poor man’s candle. 
 
46 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 thougli their strengths are no greater than a contrite reed 
 or a strained arm, and their fires have no more warmth 
 than the smoke of kindling flax. 
 
 If our faith be pure, and our love unfeigned, if the 
 degrees of it be great, God will accept it into glory ; if 
 it be little, He will accept it into grace and make it 
 bigger. 
 
 For God pardons us His children by turning every 
 one of us away from our iniquities. He cures our cursed 
 inclinations, instructs our understanding, rectifies our 
 will, fortifies us against temptation ; and though we too 
 often resist the Spirit, and grieve Him, and go off* from 
 the holiness of the covenant, and return again, and very 
 often step aside, and need this great pardon to be per- 
 petually applied and renewed, yet the Holy Jesus, tlie 
 Author and Finisher of our faith and pardon, sits in 
 heaven to be a perpetual advocation for us, that the par- 
 don, once wrought, may be for ever applied to every 
 need, and every broken heart, and every disturbed con- 
 science, and upon every true and sincere return of a 
 hearty repentance. 
 
 ‘‘ God pitieth us, as a father doth his children nay. 
 He is our Father, and the same also is the Father of 
 mercies, and the God of all comfort ; so that mercy and 
 we have the same relation. And well it may be so, for 
 we live and die together ; and if we refuse mercy here, 
 we shall have justice to eternity. 
 
 There are very many more orders of God’s fatherly 
 mercies to His children ; but because the numbers of 
 them naturally tend to have no measure, we can reckon 
 but a few, and them without order ; yet surely we may 
 
THE CHILD OF GOD. 
 
 41 
 
 consider that it is an infinite mercy of the Almighty Fa- 
 ther of mercies, that He hath appointed us such a reli- 
 gion, that leads to a huge felicity through pleasant ways. 
 The ways of sin are crooked, desert, rocky, and uneven : 
 they are broad indeed, and there is variety of ruins and 
 allurements to entice fools, and a large theatre to act 
 the bloody tragedy of souls upon ; but they are neither 
 smooth, safe, nor delicate. The ways of virtue are strait, 
 but not crooked ; narrow, but not unpleasant. There 
 are two vices for one virtue, and therefore the way to 
 hell must needs be of greater extent ; but because virtue 
 is but one way, therefore it is easy, regular, and apt to 
 walk in without error or diversions. 
 
 “Length of days,” says Solomon, “is in the right 
 hand of wisdom ; for she is a tree of life to them that 
 lay hold upon her — meaning, that the tree of life and 
 immortality, which God had planted, and which, if man 
 had stood, he should have tasted, and have lived for 
 ever, — the fruit of that tree is offered upon the same 
 conditions. If we will keep the commandments of God 
 our Father, our obedience, like the tree of life, shall con- 
 sign us to immortality hereafter by a happy life here. 
 
 There must indeed needs be great security from care 
 for all Christians, since Christ took such great pains and 
 used so many arguments to create confidence in us. 
 The Son of God told us. His Father takes care of us. 
 He that knew all His Father’s counsels, and His whole 
 kindness towards mankind, told us so. The excellent 
 words and most comfortable sentences, upon the credit 
 of which we lay our cares down, are these : “ Take no 
 thought, saying. What shall we eat ? or, What shall we 
 
48 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 drink ? or, Wherewithal! shall we be clothed ? (for after 
 I all these things do the Gentiles seek :) for your Heavenly 
 ' Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 
 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His right- 
 eousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” 
 
 Does not God provide for all the birds, and beasts, 
 and fishes ? Do not the sparrows fiy from their bush, 
 and every morning find meat where they laid it not ? 
 Do not the young ravens call to God, and He feeds 
 them ? And were it reasonable that the sons of the fam- 
 ily should fear the father would give meat to the chickens 
 and the servants, his sheep and his dogs, but give none 
 to them ? He were a very ill father that should do so ; 
 or he were a very foolish son that should think so of a 
 good father. We have lived at God’s charges all the 
 days of our life, and have, as the Italian proverb says,, 
 sat down to meat at the sound of a bell ; and hitherto 
 He has not failed us. We have no reason to suspect 
 Him for the future. We do not use to serve men so; 
 and less time of trial creates great confidence in us to- 
 wards them, who for twenty years together never broke 
 their word with us. Add to this that God hath given 
 us His Holy SjDirit : He hath promised Heaven to us : 
 He hath given us His Son, and we are taught from Scrip- 
 ture to make this inference from hence, ‘‘ How should 
 not He with Him give us all things else ? ” 
 
 To tell of the mercies of God our Father is indeed 
 to undertake the telling of the drops of the ocean, and 
 the spanning of the measures of eternity. We can but 
 say concerning them as we do concerning God himself, 
 that He is that great Fountain of which we all drink, 
 
THE CHILD OF GOD. 
 
 49 
 
 and the great Rock on which we all dwell ; and under 
 whose Shadow we are all refreshed. 
 
 God’s mercy is all this ; and we can only draw great 
 lines of it, and reckon the constellations of our hemis- 
 phere, instead of telling the number of the stars. We 
 only reckon what we feel and what we live by ; and 
 though there be, in every one of these lines of life, 
 enough to engage us for ever to do God service, and to 
 give Him praises, yet it is certain there are very many 
 mercies of God upon us, and towards us, and concern- 
 ing us, which we neither feel, nor see, nor understand 
 as yet; but yet we are blessed by them, and are pre- 
 served and secured, and we shall then know them when 
 we come to give God thanks in the festivities of an 
 eternal sabbath. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions^ dec. 
 
 Try to recall the chief pleasures you have had during 
 your life, the seasons of your greatest enjoyment, and think 
 whether you have ever heartily thanked God for them. 
 
 Then take any one day at the present time, and ’consider 
 how many little comforts and interests you have ; whatever 
 may be your trials and annoyances, think of the comfort of 
 rest, the interest of reading, the pleasure allowed us in eat- 
 ing and drinking ; think of the brightness of spirit which a 
 fine day brings, the luxury of a fire on a cold day ; think 
 how many little things there are in the course of the very 
 day on which you have just entered, which have been, or 
 are likely to be, agreeable to you : these are but the very 
 smallest part of God’s mercies. Consider whether you are 
 ill the habit, at the close of each day, of looking back upon 
 it to remember them, and then think how you feel yourself 
 towards those who have an ungracious manner, or have 
 never been taught to express thanks. 
 
 3 
 
60 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 If you are so ungrateful for God’s daily earthly mercies, 
 it is probable that you are still more so for his spiritual 
 blessings. Think wliether you do not find it extremely diffi- 
 cult to feel love and gratitude for your Saviour’s death, and 
 the infinite benefits purchased by it. 
 
 Consider whether, in anxiety or distress, you really try 
 to remember that God is your Father and will surely provide 
 for you; we cannot keep ourselves from anxious feelings, 
 but we may check anxious thoughts. 
 
 Gratitude is a habit of mind, therefore it is to be ac- 
 quired. Try to fix particular times, beside those of break- 
 fast, dinner, <fec., when you may endeavour to recollect the 
 mercies you have been receiving during the day. Do not fix 
 more than two or three ; perhaps they may be when your 
 studies are finished, and you are going to amuse yourself, or 
 when you sit down to read, or when you go out for a walk. 
 Do not increase the number after you have fixed it ; and let 
 your thanks be merely a short verse from the Psalms, which 
 may be repeated at any moment and in any place. Then at 
 night let- your thanksgivings be particular ^ not general ; 
 mention the chief pleasures you have had in the day, in the 
 same way as you would reckon up the kindnesses of an 
 earthly friend. You will find it more easy when you have 
 thus obtained a grateful habit of mind to realize those infi- 
 nite blessings of Redemption, which should be the especial 
 subjects of thanksgiving to us all. 
 
 PRATERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord God, our House of Defence and our Castle, who 
 hast taught me and led me in Thy way from my first years 
 until now. Thou hast brought me to great honour, the 
 honour of adoption to be Thy child, and a co-heir with Thy 
 Son Christ Jesus, and hast comforted me on every side. 
 
 Vouchsafe me, O Lord, Thy grace, that I may love Thee 
 and long for Thee above all the things of this world ; fill 
 
THE CHILD OF GOD. 
 
 61 
 
 my soul with a continual consciousness of Thy unspeakable 
 mercies, and let Thy merciful loving-kindness endure for ever 
 and ever upon me. Give me the loving confidence of a child 
 towards Thee; and grant that, having striven to glorify Thee 
 by my life here, I may be admitted to magnify Thy Name 
 for ever in Heaven, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our Lord an(i 
 only Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <kc. 
 

 
 
 c^. f. ys^l caC.-^ 
 
 AN INHERITOR OF THE KINGDOM OF 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 “ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the chil- 
 dren of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
 Christ: if so be that we sulfer Avith Him, that we may be also glorified 
 together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not 
 worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For 
 the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the 
 sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, 
 but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the 
 creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
 the glorious liberty of the children of God.” — Eom. viii, 16-21. 
 
 “ Wherefore I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you 
 in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, 
 may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge 
 of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may 
 know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of 
 His inheritance in the saints.” — E ph. i. 16-18. 
 
 “Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: — for 
 so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlast- 
 ing Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” — 2 St. Peter l 
 10 , 11 . 
 
 “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have 
 right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into tho 
 city.” — Eev. xxii. 14. 
 
 “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart 
 of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” — 
 1 CoR. ii. 9. 
 
 “ Treasures in heaven, Avhere neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor 
 thieves break through and steal.” — St. Matt. vi. 20. 
 
 “ Beloved, now are we the sons of God ; and it doth not appear what we 
 shall be : but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; 
 for we shall see Him as Ho is.” — 1 St. John iii. 2. 
 
AN INMTERTTOR OF HEAVEN. 
 
 53 
 
 “Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.” — 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 12. 
 
 “Tliine eyes shall see the King in Ilis Beauty, thou shalt behold the 
 land that is very far off.”— Isaiah xxxiii. 17. 
 
 In this life we can form no thought of the real bliss 
 of the life to come. Heaven being little in our thoughts, 
 and so a strange place to us, we cannot understand the 
 joys of those who dwell there. Our hearts are scattered 
 among outward things, and so we cannot think what 
 it could be to be wholly knit and gathered up in God. 
 Dwelling little on the thoughts of God and His Good- 
 ness, seldom conversing with Him, w'e have but a faint 
 love, and so we cannot understand what it would be to 
 love on for ever. Sooner could the worm, which, encased 
 in a hard crust of wood or pebbles, lies lifeless, imagine 
 what it would be, when it rises, as it were, from its 
 grave, and flies free and aloft to the day, than we, out 
 of this our prison-house, tell what it will be to be within 
 the full light of God’s countenance. 
 
 Truly, “ eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man, the things which 
 God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 
 
 Oh ! deep ocean of joy, and bliss, and love, wherein 
 we shall ever freely range, ever longing yet ever satis- 
 fied ; ever filled yet never sated ; ever loving yet never 
 weary ; ever receiving fresh streams of love, and glory, 
 ^and bliss from the exhaustless Fountain of all Good, 
 which is God. 
 
 Then shall every hindrance to spiritual bliss cease. 
 What is it, but “ the corruptible body which ” now 
 “ presseth down the soul ; ” — the temptations of the 
 
54 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 flesh, the world, and Satan, the memory of past sin and 
 present infirmities, the distraction of inward and ont' 
 ward cares ? These give no rest to the soul ; they weary 
 it by their ceaseless strife, cast it down when it would 
 rise up towards God, drown by their din the secret 
 whisper of His Voice. How can we then now paint to 
 ourselves that everlasting rest, when He shall for ever 
 ‘‘have healed the stroke of our wounds,” have blotted 
 out our sins, bruised Satan under our feet, rescued us 
 from the lion ready to devour ? How can we imagine 
 now what it will be, when corruption shall have put on 
 incorruption, when the world and the lusts thereof shall 
 have passed away, and we, if we have loved God, 
 remain alone with Him in the company of the Blessed ; 
 our body made like unto the glorious Body of our 
 Kedeemer, a partner in our bliss, and adding to its 
 fulness ? 
 
 Much, indeed, were this for us, to be freed from 
 infirmity and sin. Much were it, and perhaps all of 
 which many think, that we shall, if we attain to Hea- 
 • ven, be freed from this life’s ills, “ shall hunger no more, 
 neither thirst any more; that God shall wipe off all 
 tears from our eyes, and there shall be no more death, 
 neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
 more pain.” Sweet is it to think of an everlasting rest, 
 in which there shall be no strife with sin, no rebellion 
 within us, no temptation without, no fear of falling, no 
 enemy to watch against, but all shall be one blessed, 
 everlasting peace in God and with God. Yet this is not 
 our bliss itself ; for this the heart of man can conceive. 
 
 Again, what were all the eminence of the whole 
 
AN INHERITOR OF HEAVEN. 
 
 55 
 
 world, all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of 
 them, compared with the very lowest place in Heaven ? 
 What were all the praises of mankind, compared with 
 the sweetness of one note of the new song ? What all 
 the treasures of riches compared with the crown set 
 upon thy head by thy Redeemer’s hand? What all 
 pleasure of sense, by the side of that “ pure water of 
 life ? ” And yet these sound like created things : the 
 bliss of Heaven is no created thing, nor in things 
 created. 
 
 Elsewhere it is said, we shall “ be equal unto the 
 angels.” And what were not this? for us, who had 
 made ourselves “ like the beasts which perish,” to be 
 like the most perfect of His creation, who ever kept 
 their high estate and their nearness to God, and did 
 His will ; who are partakers of the immortality of God, 
 ever beholding the Face of the Father. But now the 
 greatness of our bliss and theirs is told us in more 
 solemn, overwhelming words : “We shall be like Him.” 
 
 Like whom ? Like God ! 
 
 To gain some thought of our future bliss, let us 
 /think, for a little moment, of some of the perfections of 
 l^our God. 
 
 God is All-holy, Himself the Source of all Holiness. 
 We, then, if we be brought thither, shall be in every 
 ' part of us holy. Nothing unclean entereth there. 
 Within and without we shall be filled and clothed with 
 the Holiness of God. 
 
 God is All-wise. We then, seeing Him, shall read 
 in Him the treasures of His Wisdom, the mystery of 
 our being and of His Love. 
 
5G READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 God is All-powerful. Our Blessed Lord hath said, 
 “ To him that overcometh will I give to sit upon My 
 throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with 
 My father on His throne ; ” and to all the elect, “ Thou 
 hast been faithful in few things, I will ' make thee ruler 
 over many things.” 
 
 God is All-glorious ; and to bring many sons to 
 glory was the very end of the sufferings of our Lord. 
 When He shall appear, then shall ye also appear with 
 Him in glory. Glory shall fill the elect above the 
 brightness of the sun, — and make them transparent 
 with light, all bright, all pure ; and that with the im- 
 parted light of God. 
 
 God is Love ; and then shall we love with the love 
 of God, shall love God as God loveth Himself; ever 
 through His Love cleaving unto His Love. 
 
 Who might not dwell for ever on these words ? 
 Yet of their reality we know nothing. We have spoken 
 of the Wisdom, Holiness, Power, Glory, Beauty, Love 
 of God. And to know these, we must see Himself. 
 The ear cannot catch' them ; the tongue cannot speak 
 of them ; the inmost heart which loveth God revealeth 
 but some faint gleam of them. They are laid up in 
 store for them who love Him. 
 
 But in heaven we shall see Him as He is. 
 
 “Thine eyes 'shall see the King in His beauty.” 
 Him, before whom the seraphims veil their faces, shall 
 we behold, Eye to eye. What joy shall it be beyond 
 all joy, — besides which there is no joy, — to see that 
 great sight, for which Moses longed, which comforted 
 Job in his sufferings, for which our whole nature has 
 
AS INlIEllITOll OF HEAVEN. 
 
 51 
 
 fainted and groaned until now ; “ with our eyes, and 
 not another’s,” to see the living God ! to see Him in 
 Himself ; “ know Him ” perfectly, ‘‘ even as we are 
 known ” of Him ; that nothing of His Glory, or Maj- 
 esty, or Love, should be hidden from us ; and be freed 
 from death, and change, and corruption by beholding 
 Him, Avho is life unchanging and incorruption. Where 
 shall be an end of loving, where love is endless, infinite ? 
 Even in deep human love, the longer the soul dwelleth 
 on that which reflects Heaven in the object of its love, 
 the intenser and more entrancing is its love. If we 
 gaze steadfastly on the earthly sun, as long as we can 
 bear it, the sight becomes intenser ; not its beauty, but 
 our sight fails. How much more, when that Blissful 
 Beauty shall be infinite, and, instead of dazzling us, 
 shall give us strength to gaze ! 
 
 Beautiful is the glistening of gold, the sparkling of 
 gems, or wine when it giveth its colour in the cup, or 
 countenances which deceive the heart of man to its per- 
 dition. Dazzling is the possession of wealth, or power 
 over others, or eminence in this world’s station ; sooth- 
 ing our luxury and ease ; but what is the fleeting beauty 
 of all created things to the infinite Beauty of God ? what 
 is all gladness to the joy of our Lord ? what all riches 
 to the treasures in Heaven which fail not — His ever- 
 lasting love ? what all which sight could grasp in Hea- 
 ven and earth, compared to Him whom as yet we see 
 not, but whom, if we be found worthy to stand before 
 Him, we shall, when heaven and earth shall have passed 
 away, “ see as He is ? ” 
 
 Oh ! choose then, on this day, if ye have not yet 
 3 * 
 
58 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 '^chosen. Let not the tinsel of this world dazzle the 
 eyes which were formed to see the King in His Beauty. 
 Let not the praise of man dull the ears which were 
 formed to hear the blissful words, “Well done, good 
 and faithful servant.” Let not cares, riches, pleasures 
 of this world choke the heart which was formed to con- 
 tain the love of God. 
 
 Gaze now for a while by faith on the blessedness of 
 that Eternal Home. There behold the orders of the 
 angels; the seraphim with burning love, the angels 
 round about the throne, and “the seven spirits of God” 
 before it, and the “ ten thousand times ten thousand, 
 and thousands of thousands, who say with a loud voice. 
 Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto 
 Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, 
 for ever and ever ; ” and “ the hundred and forty and 
 four thousand, who follow the Lamb whithersoever He 
 goeth ; ” and “ the great multitude which no man could 
 number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
 tongues, who stand before the throne, and before the 
 Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
 hands, and crying with a loud voice, “ Salvation to our 
 God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,” 
 and say, is it good to be there or here ? Where shall 
 we store our treasures, here or there ? Where set our 
 hearts, here or there ? In whether of the twain is there 
 full contentment of the heart? Where is there joy 
 that fadeth not, the Sun Who setteth not, the Love 
 which chilleth not, the friend who forsaketh not? 
 Where is thy Redeemer, thy Lord, thy God ? 
 
AN INHERITOR OF HEAVEN. 
 
 59 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions, 
 
 Think what are the things which mostly interest you 
 now ; what your thoughts dwell upon in your leisure mo- 
 ments ; what wishes come uppermost to your mind, if you 
 ever indulge in day-dreams. Those things are your Heaven. 
 
 If you thus find you have made your Heaven upon earth, 
 try to carry your thoughts on to the end of life. Imagine 
 yourself living to old age, and about to die. Force yourself 
 to picture in detail, as you would describe it to a child, 
 what you will then be, and what hopes you will then have, 
 if you have never thought of the true Heaven, but have 
 suffered yourself to be deluded by pleasures which cannot 
 last. 
 
 If you think it difficult, or almost impossible, to care for 
 Heaven which is distant, more than for earth which is 
 present, remember that this also is a habit of mind to be 
 gained by degrees ; and try the following mode of obtaining 
 it. Take some on^ beautiful or pleasant thing which God 
 has given you, and endeavour, whenever it is present to you, 
 to look upon it as an earnest of Heaven, specially sent you 
 by God. If you live amidst beautiful scenery, endeavour to 
 fix upon some spot which shall recall the thought of the 
 loveliness of Heaven. If your pleasure is music, try when- 
 ever you hear it to think of the songs of the angels in 
 Heaven. If you are fond of study, try, when you begin to 
 read, to remember that in heaven all knowledge will be 
 made clear to you. Especially if your delight is in human 
 affection, think of the person you love best, and resolve when 
 that person is present to say to yourself once or twice, that 
 the love of God in Heaven is far better. Do not try to 
 excite the feeling of love, but recall the thought. God will 
 give you the feeling in His own good time. And do not 
 burden yourself with resolutions ; one thought is best for a 
 beginning ; and if you pray that it may be impressed on 
 vour memory, you will find youi’self by degrees not requiring 
 
60 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 the help of resolutions, for thoughts of heaven will come to 
 you naturally. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, &c. ® 
 
 O Lord God of Hosts, Who dwellest in eternity. Whose 
 Power is eternal, £md whose Kingdom is the Kingdom of all 
 ages, fill my heai*t with earnest desires and longing to enter 
 into those Courts where Thou reignest in never ceasing 
 glory and felicity. And that my desires may receive an 
 infinite satisfaction, grant me Thy continual help, that des 
 pising the pleasures of this world, and going from strength 
 to strength, from virtue to virtue, at last I may appear in 
 Sion unto Thee, the God of gods, beholding the face of Thine 
 Anointed ; and may dwell one day in Thy presence, even all 
 the long day of eternity, through the same Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &o. 
 
% 
 
/r.^ 
 
 What did your godfathers and godmothers then 
 for you? 
 
 They did promise and vow three things in my 
 name : first, that I should renounce the devil and all 
 his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, 
 and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. 
 
TO RENOUNCE THE DEVIL. 
 
 {St. Chrysostom) 
 
 “ He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from th^ 
 beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He 
 might destroy the works of the devil. 'Whosoever is born of God doth 
 not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him ; and he cannot sin, because 
 he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the 
 children of the devil.” — 1 John iii. 8—10. 
 
 “ Eesist the devil, and he will flee from you.”— St. James iv. 7. 
 
 “Neither give place to the devil.” — Eph. iv. 27. 
 
 “ Be sober, Ibe vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring 
 lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour : whom resist- stedfast 
 in the faith.” — St. Peter v. 8, 9. 
 
 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand 
 against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
 but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness 
 of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take 
 unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in 
 the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your 
 loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, 
 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all, 
 taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery 
 darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of 
 the Spirit, which is the Word of God : praying always with all prayer and 
 supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.” 
 — Eph. vi. 11 — 18. 
 
 “ Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou 
 art also called.”—! Tim. vi. 12. 
 
 “ Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the 
 ness, to be tempted of the devil.” 
 
 Then ! When ? After the descent of the Spirit, 
 after the Voice that was borne from above, and said, 
 
64 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 “ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 
 For since, with a view to our instruction, Christ both 
 did and underwent all things. He endured also to be 
 led up into the wilderness, and to wrestle against the 
 devil, in order that each of those who are baptized, if, 
 after his Baptism, he have to endure great temptations, 
 may not be troubled, but may continue to endure all 
 nobly, as though it were happening in the natural 
 course of things. 
 
 Yea, for therefore thou didst take up arms, not to 
 be idle, but to fight. Do thou, therefore, emulate and 
 imitate the victory of Christ. Sliould any one approach 
 thee of those who are that evil spirit’s servants, and 
 savour the things that be of him, be not troubled nor 
 confounded, but get the better of him in the >vay which 
 Christ hath taught, by fleeing .to God for refuge, neither 
 being depressed in famine, as believing in God who is 
 able to feed even with a word; nor amidst whatever 
 good things thou mayst receive, tempting Him who 
 gave them ; but being content with the glory which is 
 from above, making no account of that which is of 
 men, and on every occasion despising what is beyond 
 thy need. 
 
 For the devil is an implacable enemy, and hath 
 taken up against us such war as excludes all treaty. 
 And we are not so earnest for our salvation, as he is for 
 our ruin. Every day he brings his machinations to 
 bear on each of the servants of Christ ; not in mountains 
 only and in wildernesses, nor by himself, but in cities 
 likewise, in market-places, and in courts of justice, and 
 by means of our own kindred, even men. He makes 
 
TO UENOUNCK TTTE DEVIL. 65 
 
 many promises, not that he may give, but that he may 
 take. He promises that he may deprive us of the 
 kingdom and of righteousness; he sets treasures in the 
 earth as a kind of gins or traps, that he may deprive us 
 both of these and of the treasures in heaven ; and he 
 would have us be rich here that we may not be rich 
 there. 
 
 Let us not then be deceived, neither let us by every 
 means seek after the life of ease. But when the custom 
 of evil things doth bewitch thee, do thou war against 
 them with that mode of thinking which tells us, “ Great 
 is the reward we shall receive, for despising the plea- 
 sure which is but for a season ; ” and say to thy soul, 
 “Art thou quite dejected, because I defraud thee of 
 pleasure ? Nay, be of good cheer, for I am introducing 
 thee into Heaven. Thou doest it not for man’s sake, 
 but for God’s. Be patient therefore a little while, and 
 thou shall see how great is the gain. Endure for the 
 present life, and thou shalt receive an everlasting con- 
 fidence.” 
 
 For if the devil, holding out j)leasure for a season 
 but pain for ever, is yet strong, and prevails ; seeing 
 our case is just the reverse in these matters, the labour 
 temporary, the pleasure and profit immortal, what plea 
 shall we have, if we follow not virtue after so great 
 encouragement ? 
 
 And not by the hope only of the things to come, 
 but in another way also God hath made virtue easy, 
 assisting us every where, and putting His hand to our 
 work. 
 
 If thou wilt only contribute a little zeal, every thing 
 
66 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 else follows. For to this end he will have thee to labour 
 a little while, even that the victory may be thine also. 
 And just as a king would have his own son present indeed 
 in the array, he would have him shoot with the bow and 
 show himself, that the trophy may be reckoned his, 
 while he achieves it all himself ; even so doth God in 
 oun war against the devil. He requires of thee one 
 thing alone, that thou show forth a ^ncere hatred 
 against that foe. And if thou contribute this to him, 
 he by himself brings all the war to an end. Though 
 thou burn with anger, with desire of riches, with any 
 tyrannical passion whatever, if he see thee only strip- 
 ping thyself and prepared against it, he comes quickly 
 to thee, and makes all things easy, and sets thee above 
 the flame, as he did those children of old in the Baby- 
 lonish furnace, for they too carried in with them nought 
 but their good will. 
 
 For indeed we a^e soldiers of a heavenly King, and 
 are clad with spiritual arms. We are become soldiers, 
 not of them that are far off, but of them that are near ; 
 for if God is present every where, to him that strives 
 and is in earnest He is near. Wherefore also the pro- 
 phet said, “ I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me : ” 
 and God himself again, “ I am a God nigh at hand, 
 and not a God afar off.” As our sins separate us from 
 Him, so do our righteousnesses draw us nigh unto Him. 
 For ‘‘ while thou art yet speaking,” it is said, ‘‘ I will 
 say. Here I am.” 
 
 What father would ever be thus obedient to his off- 
 spring ? What mother is there, so ready, and continu- 
 ally standing, if haply her children call her ? 
 
TO RENOUNCE THE DEVIL. 
 
 67 
 
 There is not one, — no father, no mother ; but God 
 stands continually waiting, if any of His servants should 
 perchance call Him ; and never, when we have called 
 as we ought, hath He refused to hear. Therefore He 
 saith, “ While thou art yet speaking ; ” I do not wait 
 for thee to finish, and I stoightway hearken. 
 
 Let us call Him, therefore, as it is His will to be 
 called. 
 
 “ Loose,” saith He, “ every band of iniquity ; then 
 shall thy light break forth in the morning, and thine 
 healing shall spring forth speedily, and My righteousness 
 shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall 
 cover thee. Then thou shalt call upon Me, and I will 
 give ear unto thee ; whilst thou are yet speaking, I will 
 say, Lo! here I am.” 
 
 If thou account this difficult, look, I pray thee, at 
 the rewards also, and it shall be easy to thee. 
 
 “Then shall thy light break forth as the morn- 
 ing.” 
 
 Of what manner of light is He speaking, and what 
 can this Light be ? Not this, that is sensible ; but 
 another far better, which shows us Heaven, the Angels, 
 the Archangels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim, the 
 Thrones, the Dominions, the Principalities, the Powers, 
 the whole Host, the Royal Palaces, the Tabernacles. 
 For shouldst thou be counted worthy of this Light, thou 
 shalt both see these, and be delivered from hell, and the 
 venomous worm, and from the gnashing of teeth, and 
 from the bands that cannot be broken, and from the 
 anguish and the affliction, from the darkness that hath 
 no light, and from being cut asunder, and from the 
 
68 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 river of fire, and from the curse, and from the abodes of 
 sorrow ; and thou shalt depart ‘‘ where sorrow and woe 
 are fled away,” where g^reat is the joy and the peace, 
 and the love and the pleasure, and the mirth ; where is 
 life eternal and unspeakable glory, and inexpressible 
 beauty ; where are eternal tabernacles, and the untold 
 glory of the King, and “ those good things which eye 
 hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 the heart of man where is the spiritual bride-chamber, 
 and the apartments of the heavens, and the virgins that 
 bear the bright lamp, and they who have the marriage 
 garment; where many are the possessions of our Lord, 
 and the storehouses of the King. 
 
 Shall we then still delay ? Kay, but though we 
 must throw away all, be cast into the fire, venture 
 against the sword, leap upon daggers, suffer what you 
 will, — let us bear all easily, that we may obtain the 
 garment of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that untold 
 glory, which may we all attain, by the grace and love 
 towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be 
 glory and might, world without end. Amen. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, dec. 
 
 Think whether you have ever really looked upon life as 
 a warfare, a time of perpetual struggle wdth a deadly enemy. 
 If life has been easy to you, and you have continually yield- 
 ed to every inclination as it arose, your enemy has already 
 gained a great victory over you, and your only hope of safety 
 is in instantly rousing yourself to withstand him. There can 
 be no better time for such a resolution, than when you are 
 preparing to receive fresh strength from God, in Confirmatiou 
 and the Holy Communion. 
 
TO RENOUNCE THE DEVIL. 
 
 69 
 
 Consider in wliat instances you are most commonly in- 
 clined to give way. 
 
 Think whether you have not often given way more from 
 weariness and weakness, than from the force of temptation; 
 and make your resolutions, not for your life, but for a few 
 hours, or one day. Ask God to help you for that particular 
 time, and leave the thought of the future. When you have 
 conquered your evil disposition for one day, you will be bet- 
 ter able to continue the same resolution for another day ; and 
 so on till the habit of self-control is acquired. 
 
 Consider whether, when the idea of fighting a battle and 
 gaining a victory is presented to jour mind, your first 
 thought is to pray for help. If it is not, the victory will 
 never be gained ; if it is, you must succeed in the end, 
 though the struggle may be long. 
 
 Think whether you look forward to any time on earth 
 when you will not have to struggle. It is a great mistake if 
 you do, and will be a cause of serious unhappiness. The ex- 
 istence of the spirit of evil is as real as your own existence, 
 and whilst you remain on earth you will always be subject 
 to his temptations. Face the trial, therefore, boldly, and re- 
 member that, although it will last your life, you need think 
 only of the next step, and will be led on happily and safely, 
 if you will only be in earnest, and trust entirely to the help 
 of God. 
 
 PRAYERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord God, the succour of all that trust in Thee, leave 
 me not, neither forsake me, I beseech Thee, when I am as- 
 saulted by my deadly enemy without and by temptations 
 from within. Give me Thy aid especially for this day. Let 
 Thy Spirit instruct me in the spiritual warfare, arming my 
 understanding, and fortifying my will ; and grant that the 
 dangers with which I am encompassed may become unto me 
 an occasion of victory and triumph, through the aid of the 
 Holy Ghost, and by the Cross of the Lord Jesus, who hath 
 
10 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 for Himself, and all His Servants, triumphed over sin, and 
 hell and the grave, even all the powers of darkness. 
 
 From which, by His mercies, and the merits of His Pas- 
 sion, deliver me, 0 Lord, and all Thy faithful people. 
 Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
 V 
 
 
r, 
 
 THE WORLD. 
 
 “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any 
 man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in 
 the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
 life, is not of the Father, hut is of the world. And the world passetb 
 away, and the lusts thereof: hut he that doeth the will of God ahideth for 
 ever,” — 1 John ii. 15 — 17. 
 
 ' “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till 
 there he no place, that they may he placed alone in the midst of the earth ! ” 
 — Isaiah v. 8. 
 
 “ Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their 
 own sight I ” — Isaiah v. 21. 
 
 “ He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that com- 
 mendeth himself is approved, hut whom the Lord commendeth.” — 2 Coe. 
 X. IT, 18. 
 
 “ God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, hy whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.” — 
 Gal. vi. 14. 
 
 “The friendship of the world is enmity with God.” — St. James iv. 4. 
 
 “ I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, with- 
 out wrath and doubting. In like manner also that women adorn them- 
 selves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety ; not with 
 hroidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, hut (which hecometh wo- 
 men professing godliness) with good works.” — 1 Tim. ii. 8 — 10. 
 
 “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of 
 Glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a 
 man with a gold ring in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man 
 in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, 
 and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place ; and say to the poor, 
 Stand thou here, or sit here under my footstool ; are ye not then partial 
 in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? ” — “Hearken, my 
 beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, 
 and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love 
 Him ? ” — St. James ii. 1—5. 
 
 Witli reason may this life be called the shadow of 
 death ; since under the shadow of life death steals upon 
 
72 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 US ; ^and. as at every step the body takes, the shadow 
 takes another, so at every pace our lives move forward, 
 death equally advances with it : and as Eternity is ever 
 in beginning, and is therefore a perpetual beginning, so 
 ^ life is ever ending and concluding, and may therefore 
 be called a perpetual end, and a continual death. 
 
 If a man were lord of infinite worlds, and possessed 
 infinite riches ; if they were at last to end, and he to 
 leave them, they were to be valued as nothing ; and if 
 all things temporal have this evil property, to fade and 
 perish, they ought to have no more esteem than if they 
 were not. 
 
 Oh ! miserable condition of human nature ! vain is 
 all that we live without Christ. ‘‘ All flesh is grass, and 
 all the glory of it as the flower of the field.” Where is 
 now that comely visage ? Where is now the dignity 
 of the whole body, with which, as with a fair garment, 
 the beauty of the soul was once clothed ? 
 
 Ah, pity ! the lily is withered, the purple of the 
 violet is turned into paleness. Therefore let us consider 
 what in time must become of us, and what, will we, or 
 will not, cannot be far oflf ; for betwixt him who lives 
 but ten years, and him who lives a thousand, the end 
 of life and the unavoidable necessity of death once come, 
 all is the same, save only he who lives longer departs 
 heavier laden with sins. 
 
 It is a mighty change that is made by the death of 
 every person, and it is visible to us who are alive. 
 Reckon but from the sprightfulness of youth, and the 
 fair cheeks and full eyes of childhood, to the state of a 
 three days’ burial, and we shall perceive the distance to 
 
THE WORLD. 
 
 13 
 
 be very great and very strange. The time will come 
 when those eyes, with which thou readest this, shall 
 lose their sight ; those hands which thou now employ est, 
 be without sense or motion; this mouth which now dis- 
 courses shall be mute, without breath or spirit; and this 
 flesh, which thou now pamperest, shall be consumed. 
 The time will come when thou shalt be forgotten, as if 
 thou never hadst been ; and those that pass shall walk 
 over thee, without remembering that such a man was 
 born. Think upon this seriously, and reflect with 
 thyself soberly, how thou shalt look when thou art 
 dead; and this consideration will give thee a great 
 knowledge what thy live is, and make thee despise its 
 vanities. 
 
 (Vain also are all honours of this world. 
 
 A man may read a sermon, the best and most pas- 
 sionate that ever a man preached, if he shall but enter 
 into the sepulchre of kings. In the sameEscurial where 
 the Spanish princes live in greatness and power, and 
 decree war or peace, they have wisely placed a ceme- 
 tery, where their ashes and their glory shall sleep till 
 time shall be no more ; and where our kings have been 
 crowned, their ancestors lie interred, and they must 
 walk over their grandsire’s head to take his crown. 
 There is an acre sown with royal seed, the copy of the 
 greatest change, from rich to naked, from ceiled roofs 
 to arched coffins, from living like gods to die like men. 
 There the warlike and the peaceful, the fortunate and 
 the miserable, the beloved and the despised princes 
 mingle their dust, and pay down their symbol of mor- 
 tality, and tell all the world, that, when we die, our 
 4 
 
74 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 ashes shall be equal to kings’, and our accounts easier, 
 and our pains or our crowns shall be less. 
 
 For a man is no greater than what he is in the 
 Eyes of God ; and the estimation which God hath of 
 us, is not for being born in a palace, but for being right- 
 eous and just. What an error is it then, to value our- 
 selves more for our human birth, by which we are 
 made sinners, then for our divine birth, by which we 
 are made just ! How foolish were he, who, being the 
 son of a king and bond-woman, should esteem himself 
 more for being the son of a slave than of a monarch ! 
 More fool is he who values more the nobility of his 
 blood in being a gentleman, than the nobility of his 
 soul in being a Christian. All honours of the earth are 
 but splendid vanities ; and those who seek after them 
 are like boys who hunt after butterflies : yet many souls 
 have perished by them. 
 
 If David cursed the mountains of Gilboa, because 
 Saul and Jonathan died upon them ; with much more 
 reason may we curse the high mountains of honours, 
 upon which so many souls have been seen to perish. 
 
 Again, how vain is the noise of fame ! 
 
 The world is but a point ; and of it how small a 
 corner of it is inhabited ! and who, and how many are 
 those id it who are to praise thee ! He who desires 
 fame and honour after death, thinks not that he who 
 is to remember him shall shortly die also ; and in the 
 same manner he who is to succeed after him, until that 
 all memory, which is to be propagated by mortal men, 
 be blotted out. But suppose that those who are to re- 
 member thee were immortal ; what could it import thee, 
 
THE WORLD. 
 
 75 
 
 being dead ? Rather, if the applause of men, and the 
 good opinion which they have from others, be esteemed 
 an honour, what shall not be the applause of Heaven, 
 and the good opinion not only of saints and angels, but 
 of God himself, whose judgment cannot err ? 
 
 O happy labour of the victorious and glorious com- 
 bat of the just ; whose triumph is eternal, and their 
 never-fading crown is God himself! 
 
 If Saul thought the honour too much which was 
 given to David by the damsels, when they celebrated 
 his victory in their songs, what shall it be to be cele- 
 brated by all the angels and saints in celestial responso- 
 ries. And when a servant of God enters into heaven, 
 he shall be received with such divine music ; all the 
 Blessed in Heaven often repeating those words in the 
 Gospel, “ Well done, good servant and true ; because 
 thou hast been faithful in a few things, thou shalt be 
 placed over much : enter into thy Master’s joy.” 
 
 Vain also are the riches and pleasures of this life. 
 
 Those who work in perspective will so paint a room, 
 that, the light entering only through some little hole, 
 you shall perceive beautiful and perfect figures and 
 shapes ; but if you open the windows and let in a full 
 light, at most you shall see but some imperfect lines 
 and shadows. So things of this world seem great and 
 beautiful unto those who are in darkness, and have but 
 little light in heaven ; but those who enjoy the perfect 
 light of truth and faith, find nothing in them of sub- 
 stance. 
 
 Let us consider what riches are, unto whom Gregory 
 Nazianzen did much honour when he called them a 
 
76 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 precious dung. Truly in themselves they are not much 
 better. Gold and silver, said Antonins the philosopher, 
 “ were nothing else than dregs of the earth : what are 
 precious stones but shining pebbles; some red, some 
 green ? silk but the slaverings of worms ? and the finest 
 Holland and the purest linen, but threads of certain 
 plants? What are possessions, palaces, cities, provinces, 
 and spacious kingdoms ! They are only toys of men, 
 who, though old, are but children in esteeming so much 
 of them. 
 
 Kiches were invented for the ease and commodity 
 of life ; but as man hath made them, they serve for the 
 greatest trouble and vexation. He who hath wealth, 
 hath most want, because he not only needs for himself, 
 but for all which he possesseth ; so that he which hath 
 a great house, hath the same necessities that his house 
 hath, which are many ; for a great house requires much 
 furniture and a large family, and so charges the master 
 with multitudes of servants, great quantities of plate, 
 hangings, and other ornaments superfluous to use and 
 human commodity. He therefore that hath riches, 
 hath the greatest cares, troubles, dangers, and even the 
 greatest losses: and wealth may serve us here to main- 
 tain our power, honours, and delights, yet all the gold 
 in the world cannot free us from weakness, infamy, or 
 pain ; it cannot make a calenture not to afflict us, or 
 that the pains of the head do not molest us, or that 
 cares and fears shalb not break our sleep. This is only 
 to be had in heaven. 
 
 Let us therefore, while we have time, make over our 
 riches ; let us send them before us into another world ; 
 
THE WORLD. 
 
 77 
 
 Heaven stands open to receive them. We need not 
 doubt of safe carriage ; the carriers are very faithful 
 and trusty, they are the poor and needy of this world : 
 we make over unto them here, by way of exchange, a 
 few things of little value, being to receive in heaven for 
 them an exceeding eternal weight of glory. 
 
 Let us take couraofe. It is the Kingdom of Hea- 
 ven we hope for ; joys, riches, and honours eternal are 
 those which are promised us. For all that is of this 
 world shall one day burn — the memory and fame of it 
 shall die, and that which mortals thought to be immor- 
 tal shall end and perish. 
 
 What shall it then profit the worldlings, to have 
 rich vessels of gold and silver, curious embroideries, 
 precious tapestry, pleasant gardens, sumptuous palaces, 
 and all which the world now esteems ; when they shall 
 with their own eyes behold their costly palaces burnt, 
 their rich and curious orchards consumed, without 
 power to preserve them or themselves ? All commerce 
 shall then cease, the market-places shall be unpeopled, 
 and the tribunals remain solitary and silent ; none shall 
 then be ambitious of honours, none shall seek after 
 pastimes, and new-invented pleasures ; nor shall the 
 covetous wretch then bury himself with the care of his 
 treasures. 
 
 The rich man shall not be preserved by his wealth, 
 nor the, ^ mighty by his power ; none shall escape the 
 terror of tliat day, by fast-sailing ships, or speed of 
 horse ; the sea itself shall burn, and the fire shall over- 
 take the swiftest foot. 
 
 All fame shall then die, and all memory be forgot- 
 
78 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 ten — only holiness and charity shall defend the servants 
 of God. 
 
 O vanity of men, whose riches and whose memorials 
 are vain as themselves, which in few years perish ; and 
 that which lasts longest can endure no longer than the 
 world ! 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination. Resolutions^ ^c. 
 
 If you are born to wealth, or your parents are in easy 
 circumstances, consider whether you long for the time when 
 you may have luxuries at your own command; and whether 
 you allow yourself to build castles in the air, as to what you 
 will do when that time shall arrive. If you are poor, think 
 whether you do not often secretly wish that your position in 
 life were such as to make luxuries necessary to you. These 
 feelings show that you love the pomps and vanities of the 
 world, though you may not be able to indulge in them 
 freely. 
 
 Think whether you are vain of your personal appearance, 
 and spend more time than is necessary in dressing and look- 
 ing at yourself, and whether you think about your appear- 
 ance after you are dressed. 
 
 Think whether you are anxious for the acquaintance of 
 persons of higher rank than yourself ; whether you look 
 down upon those beneath you ; whether you take delight in 
 admiration, or long for distinction. 
 
 Consider whether you habitually inquire what personal 
 indulgence of dress, or taste, or luxury, you may fairly allow 
 yourself, or what you may fairly do without. 
 
 You will never truly conquer the love of the world, till 
 you have learnt to act according to the latter rule. 
 
 Nothing is more difficult to determine than the question, 
 in what the pomps and vanities of the world coiisist. They 
 differ according to the circumstances of each individual. 
 The luxuries of a palace, and ornaments, and costly dress, 
 
THE WORLD. 
 
 79 
 
 are not, for instance, wrong for a queen, because they are 
 incumbent upon her high station. We shall best learn how 
 to decide what we may and what we may not do, by begin- 
 ning to act upon a self-denying principle in some particular 
 instance. This will lead us to others. 
 
 Think, therefore, whether you have actually realized to 
 yourself, that your money is not your own, but is lent you 
 by God ; first, for your own necessities, and then for the 
 benefit of others, especially His poor. If you have not, 
 resolve to keep a strict account of your expenditure ; add it 
 up every week, and think, as you do so, that you have to 
 show your account-book to God. You will be ashamed to 
 own before Him, that His money has been spent in idle ex- 
 travagance. And when you have learnt to think first of the 
 poor, you will not indulge in a love of gay, expensive society, 
 or court outward distinctions. 
 
 One caution may, perhaps, be given on this subject. 
 Young persons who are earnestly wishing to serve God, are 
 yet sometimes apt to fall into self-will as regards dress, 
 society, &c. They put their own notions of right above the 
 wishes of their parents. They forget that the commandment, 
 “Honour thy Father and thy Mother,” is the first in the 
 second table of the law. 
 
 Things absolutely wrong in themselves, such as murder, 
 theft, <fec., cannot be made right by any human command, 
 however high the authority; but things which are only 
 wrong according to circumstances, such as dress, society, &c., 
 must be subject to the will of those whom God has been 
 pleased to place over us. 
 
 PRAYERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Eternal God, Who art without beginning or end of 
 days. Thou hast given us a short portion of time in the gene- 
 rations of this world ; our condition is vain, and unsatisfying, 
 and we have no hope but in Thee, 0 Lord. O teach me to 
 
80 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 number my days, to remember and know my end, that so I 
 may never sin against Thee. Grant that I may live as 
 always dying, mortifying my inclinations, bridling my wishes 
 and affections, not seeking after temporal advantages, nor 
 labouring to heap up riches, but striving for a treasure of 
 good works, laid up in store against the time to come, that 
 when I go hence and am no more seen, I may have a resi- 
 dence in those mansions which are prepared for the saints, 
 by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of 
 the flesh ; for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the 
 flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other.” — Gal. v. 16, 17. 
 
 “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, forni- 
 cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, 
 emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunken- 
 ness, revellings and such like ; of the which I tell you before, as I have also 
 told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God.” — Gal. v. 19 — 21. 
 
 “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and 
 lusts.” — Gal. v. 24. 
 
 “ Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it 
 in the lusts thereof ; neither yield ye your members as instruments of un- 
 righteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are 
 alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness 
 unto God.” — Kom. vi, 12, 13. 
 
 “ Fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once 
 named among you, as becometh saints. For this ye know, that no whore- 
 monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath 
 any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” — Eph. v, 3, 5. 
 
 “ Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even 
 weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is 
 destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, 
 who mind earthly things.” — Phil. iii. 18, 19. 
 
 “He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and 
 he shall be My son. But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, 
 and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all 
 liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
 stone, which is the second death, — Eev. xxi. 7, 8. 
 
 To my apprehension it is a sad record which is left 
 by Athenseus concerning Ninus, the great Assyrian 
 monarch, whose life and. death are summed up in these 
 
82 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 words : “ Ninus the Assyrian had an ocean of gold, and 
 otlier riches more than the sand in the Caspian Sea. 
 He never offered sacrifice, nor worshipped the deity, 
 nor administered justice, nor spake to his people, nor 
 numbered them ; but he was most valiant to eat and 
 drink, and having mingled his wines, he threw the rest 
 upon the stones.” 
 
 This man is dead. Behold his sepulchre, and now 
 hear where Ninus is. 
 
 “ Sometime I was Ninus, and drew the breath of a 
 living man ; but now am nothing but clay. I have 
 nothing but what I did eat ; and what I served to my- 
 self in lust, that was and is all my portion. 
 
 “ The wealth with which I was esteemed blessed, 
 my enemies, meeting together, shall bear away. 
 
 “ I am gone to hell ; and when I went thither I 
 neither carried gold, nor horse, nor silver chariot. I 
 that wore a diadem am now a little heap of dust.” 
 
 I know not any thing that can better represent the 
 evil condition of a wicked man, or a changing greatness. 
 From the greatest secular dignity to dust and ashes his 
 nature bears him, and from thence to hell his sins carry 
 him, and there he shall for ever lie under the dominion 
 of chains and devils, wrath, and an intolerable calamity. 
 
 There are some states of sin which expose a man to 
 all mischief as it can happen, by taking off from him 
 all his guard and defence, by driving the Good Spirit 
 from him, by stripping him of the guards of angels. 
 Such are especially those works of darkness, — intem- 
 perance and impurity. They make the spirit to decay, 
 and fall oft* from courage and resolution, constancy and 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 83 
 
 severity ; and those punishments, which the nations of 
 the world have inflicted upon them, are not smart so 
 much as shame. 
 
 We see the event of this by too sad an experience. 
 What arguments, what hardness, what jDreachings, 
 what necessity, can persuade men to confess their sins ? 
 They are so ashamed of them, that to be concealed 
 they prefer before their remedy ; and yet in penitential 
 confession the shame is going off. It is like Cato’s 
 coming out of the theatre, or the philosopher from the 
 tavern. It might have been shame to have entered, 
 but glory to have departed for ever. And yet ever to 
 have relation to sin is so shameful a thing, that a man’s 
 spirit is amazed, and his face is confounded, when he is 
 dressed of so vshameful a disease. 
 
 But then if we remember how ambitious we are for 
 fame and reputation, for honour and a fair opinion, for 
 a good nam^ all our days, and when our days are done ; 
 and that no ingenuous man can enjoy any thing he hath 
 if he lives in disgrace ; and that nothing so breaks a 
 man’s spirit as dishonour, and the meanest person alive 
 does not think himself fit to be despised, — we are to 
 consider into what an evil condition such sins put us, 
 for which we are not only disgraced here, despised by 
 good men, our follies derided, our company avoided, 
 and we die un pitied, and lie in our graves eaten up by 
 worms and a foul dishonour ; but, after all this, at the 
 Day of Judgment, we shall be called from our charnel 
 houses where our disgrace could not sleep, and shall, in 
 the face of God, in the presence of angels and devils, 
 before all good men and all the evil, see and feel the 
 shame of all our sins written upon our foreheads. 
 
84 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 No night shall then hide it ; for in those regions of 
 darkness where the dishonoured man shall dwell for 
 ever, there is nothing visible but the shame. All that 
 for which wise men scorned him and for which God 
 hated him — that which was public' and that which was 
 private, the bare and odious circumstances, all that 
 which troubles his conscience, and all that he willingly 
 forgets, — shall be proclaimed by the trumpet of God, 
 by the voice of an archangel in the great congregation 
 of spirits and just men. 
 
 But the Gospel hath added an argument against 
 such sins, which was never before used, nor indeed 
 could be. Since God hath given the Holy Spirit to 
 them that are baptized, and rightly confirmed, and 
 entered into covenant with Him ; our bodies are made 
 Temples of the Holy Ghost, in which Tie ^d wells ;• and 
 therefore to defile them is sacrilege and defiling a teihple. 
 It is St. Paul’s argument, “ Know ye not that your 
 body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost?” and “He 
 that defiles a temple, him will God destroy.” To which, 
 for the likeness of the argument, add, that our bodies 
 are members of Christ, so that impurity dishonours 
 Christ, and dishonours the Holy ■ Spirit. It is a sin 
 against God, and in this sense a sin against the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Christians, therefore, must have hearts and minds 
 chaste and pure; that is, detesting all impurity, dis- 
 liking all its motions, circumstances, likenesses, dis- 
 courses, with great care declining all indecencies of 
 language, chastening the tongue and restraining it with 
 -grace. 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 85 
 
 A Christian woman will be grave, decent and 
 modest in her clothing and ornament, never allowing 
 it to be above her condition, not always equal to it, but 
 remembering what becomes a Christian, professing holi- 
 ness, charity, and the discipline of the Holy Jesus. And 
 this duty of modesty, in this instance, is expressly enjoined 
 to all Christian women by St. Paul. “ That women 
 adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefaced- 
 ness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold, or 
 jewels, or costly array, but (which becometh women 
 professing godliness) with good works.” 
 
 Neither should we forget that curiosity is the direct 
 incontinency of the spirit ; its inquisitions are seldom 
 without danger,' and are neither just, nor honest, nor 
 delightful. Curious -persons are not solicitous or in- 
 quisitive into the beauty and order of a well-governed 
 family, or after the virtues of an excellent person ; but 
 if there be any thing for which men keep locks, and 
 bars, and porters, things that blush to see the light, and 
 either are shameful in manners or private in nature, 
 these things are their care and their business. 
 
 Give, therefore, no entertainment to the beginnings, 
 the first motions ^ and secret whispers of such evil. 
 Avoid idleness, and -fill up all the spaces of thy 
 time with severe and useful employment; for sinful 
 thoughts and sinful feelings usually creep in at those 
 emptinesses, where the soul is unemployed, and the 
 body is at ease. But if such enemies assault thee, do 
 not resist them by heaping up arguments against them, 
 and disputing with them. Fly from them : turn away 
 by any severe and laudable thought of business. A 
 
86 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 man may be burned if he goes near the fire, though but 
 to quench his house ; and by handling pitch, though 
 but to draw it from your clothes, you defile your 
 fingers. 
 
 Kemember, likewise, that sobriety is the bridle of 
 the passions, and temperance is the bit and curb of that 
 bridle. For temperance is accompanied with a com- 
 mand of our thoughts and passions ; a seldom returning, 
 and a never prevailing temptation; a suppressed and. 
 seldom anger ; a spiritual joy and a devout prayer. 
 
 Intemperance in eating, indeed, is not so soon per- 
 ceived by others as immoderate drinking, and the out- 
 ward visible effects of it are not either so notorious or 
 ridiculous ; therefore gluttony is not of so great disrepu- 
 tation among men as drunkenness. 
 
 Yet, according to its degree, it puts on the greatness 
 of the sin before God, and is most strictly to be attended 
 to, lest we be surprised by our security and want of 
 diligence; and the intemperance is alike criminal in 
 both. 
 
 And if this be so, we may well consider what a 
 strange madness and prodigious folly possess many men 
 that they love to swallow death, and diseases, and dis- 
 honour with an appetite which no reason can restrain. 
 We expect our servants should not dare to touch what 
 we have forbidden to them ; we are watching that our 
 children should not swallow poisons, and filthiness, and 
 unwholesome nourishment; we are so great lovers of 
 health that we will buy it at any rate of money or 
 observance : and yet all these things are not valued or 
 considered, when a meiTy meeting, or a looser feast, 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 87 
 
 calls upon the man to act a scene of folly, and madness, 
 and healthlessness, and dishonour. 
 
 I pray that my friends may never feel the pleasures 
 of an epicure’s table; but he that sinneth against his 
 Maker shall fall into' the calamities of intemperance. 
 
 Yet, that neither our virtue nor our conscience fall 
 into an evil snare — the needs of nature becoming the 
 cover to an intemperate dish, nor the freer refreshments 
 of our persons being changed into scruples, — it may be 
 fit that the measures of our eating and drinking be 
 described. 
 
 The first measure is our natural needs, “that the 
 body be free from pain, and the soul from \dolence.” 
 Hunger, and thirst, and cold are the natural diseases of 
 the body; and food and raiment are their remedies, 
 and therefore are the measures. 
 
 “But this hunger must be natural,” not artificial 
 and provoked ; for many men make necessities to them- 
 selves, and then think they are bound to provide for 
 them. When nature willingly rises from table, when 
 the first course of flesh, plain and natural, is done, then 
 art, and sophistiy, and adulterate dishes invite him to 
 taste and die. He that drinks a draught or two of 
 water, and cools his thirst, drinks no more till his thirst 
 returns; but he that drinks wine, drinks again longer 
 than it is needful, even so long as it is pleasant. Nature 
 best provides for herself when she spreads her own 
 table ; but when men have gotten superinduced habits, 
 and new necessities, art, that brought them in, must 
 maintain them ; but wantonness and folly wait at the 
 table, and sickness and death take away. 
 
88 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Reason is the second measure, or rather the rule 
 whereby we judge of intemperance ; for whatsoever 
 loads of meat and drink make the reason useless or 
 troubled, are effects of this deformity. 
 
 Not that reason is the adequate measure ; for a man 
 may be intemperate upon other causes, though he do 
 not force his understanding, and trouble his head. 
 Some are strong to drink, and can eat like a wolf, and 
 love to do so. These persons are to take their accounts 
 from the measures of religion and the Spirit. Though 
 they can talk still, or transact the affairs of the world, 
 yet if they be not fitted for the things of the Spirit, 
 they are too full of fiesh or wine, and cannot, or care 
 not to attend to the things of God. 
 
 Though reason be so strictly to be preserved at our 
 tables as well as at our prayers, and we can never have 
 leave to do any violence to it, yet the measures of 
 nature may be enlarged beyond the bounds of common 
 necessity. For besides hunger and thirst, there are 
 some labours of the body, and others of the mind ; and 
 as the labuuring man may be supplied with bigger 
 quantities, so the student and contemplative man with 
 more delicate nutriment. In these cases, necessity and 
 prudence and experience are to make the measures of 
 the rule ; and so long as the just end is fairly designed, 
 and aptly ministered to, there ought to be no scruple 
 concerning the quantity or quality of the provisions. 
 
 It is lawful, when a man needs meat, to choose the 
 pleasanter, even for their pleasures ; that is, because 
 they are pleasant, besides that they are useful. This is 
 as lawful as to smell of a rose, or change the posture of 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 89 
 
 our body in bed for ease, or to hear music, or to walk 
 in gardens rather than the highways; and God hatli 
 given us leave to be' delighted in those things which 
 He made to that purpose, that we may also be de- 
 lighted in Him that gives them. But let the pleasure, 
 as it came with meat, so also pass away with it. Do 
 not run to it beforehand; delight not in fancies and 
 expectations and remembrances of a pleasant meal, but 
 let pleasure be the less principal, and used as a seiwant. 
 Neither eat delicately or nicely; that is, be not trouble- 
 some to thyself or others in the choice of thy meats or 
 the delicacy of thy sauces. It was imputed as a sin to 
 the sons of Israel, that they loathed manna and longed 
 for flesh : ‘‘And for the manner of dressing, the sons of 
 Eli were noted for indiscreet curiosity : they would not 
 have the flesh boiled, but raw, that they might roast it 
 with fire.” Not that it was a sin to eat it, or desire 
 meat roasted ; but that, when it was appointed to be 
 boiled, they refused it, which declared an intemperate 
 and nice palate. Whatsoever is set before you, eat ; if 
 it be provided for you, you may eat it, be it never so 
 delicate; and, be it plain or common, so it be whole- 
 some or fit for you, it must not be refused upon curiosity ; 
 for eveiy degree of that is a degree of intemperance. 
 
 Let pleasure, as it is used in the regions and limits 
 of nature and prudence,' so also be changed into religion 
 and thankfulness. If we swallow our pleasures without 
 returning the honour and the acknowledgment to God 
 that gave them, we may “ drink draughts as large as 
 an ox,” but we shall die like an ox, and change our 
 meats and drinks into eternal rottenness. In all reli- 
 
90 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 gions it hath been permitted to enlarge our tables in 
 the days of sacrifices and religious festivity. For then 
 the body may rejoice in fellowship with the soul, and 
 then a pleasant meal is religious, if it be not inordinate. 
 But if our festival days, and our joys in religion, pass 
 into sensLialily like the Gentile sacrifices, we change the 
 holy day into a day of death, and ourselves become a 
 sacrifice as in the day of slaughter. 
 
 To sum up this particular; there are, as -you per- 
 ceive, many cautions to make our pleasure safe, but 
 any thing can make it inordinate, and then scarce any 
 thing can keep it from becoming dangerous. 
 
 Safest it is to go to the severities of a watchful and 
 a sober life ; for all that time of life is lost, when wine 
 and rage, and pleasure and folly, steal away the heart 
 of a man, and make him go singing to his grave. 
 
 I end with the saying of a wise man. “ He is fit 
 to sit at the Table of the Lord, and to feast with saints, 
 who moderately uses the creatures which God hath 
 given him: but he that despises even lawful pleasures, 
 shall not only sit and feast with God, but reign together 
 with Him, and partake of His glorious kingdom.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions^ <^c. 
 
 Think whether you are habitually self-indulgent or self 
 denying ; whether you eat and drink every thing you happen 
 to fancy, without thought for others or for your own health ; 
 whether you lie in bed too long; whether you indulge your- 
 self in lazy, indolent habits of lounging and dawdling during 
 the day. These are the first beginnings of evil ; they give 
 us habits of luxury, and destroy energy of mind. 
 
 Think how you employ your time: whether you are 
 
THE FLESH. 
 
 91 
 
 constantly occupied in something useful, or improving, or 
 which your conscience tells you is an allowable recreation; 
 or whether you make your amusements the business of life. 
 The surest way of making our pleasures safe, is to give God 
 thanks for them ; we cannot thank Him for what we feel to 
 be evil of our own choosing. 
 
 Consider, as regards conversation, whether you talk idly 
 upon the affairs of the neighborhood, repeating bad stories, 
 or asking curious questions. You may be sure that any 
 thing which you would not like to repeat to a person you 
 respect, is unfit for you to hear or to mention to others. 
 
 Consider, also, whether you are very careful as to what 
 you read ; whether when you have a doubt about a book, 
 or a story in a newspaper, you give it up directly, however 
 interesting it may be. 
 
 Think whether you are very watchful over your thoughts, 
 checking them directly they are wandering to subjects which 
 you fear may be wrong. Some persons indulge themselves 
 in tlioughts and in conversation most undesirable, from an 
 idea that it is necessary to know the evil that exists in the 
 world. It is a grievous mistake, and will bring with it 
 grievous consequences. That which we must know, God 
 will tell us in His own way, by His own means, and it will 
 do us no harm. That which we seek for ourselves, will be 
 followed by a bitterness of self-reproach, which we shall 
 carry with us to our grave. 
 
 Think whether you are fond of notice, and ever do things 
 for the purpose of attracting notice. It is often impossible 
 to avoid the thought of being noticed at the time we are 
 doing or saying any thing ; but we can check the thought 
 directly it arises, and force ourselves to turn to some other 
 subject, and so by degrees we shall lose the habit of self- 
 consciousness. If we are watchful in these lesser points, 
 there is no cause to fear being led into great sin. 
 
92 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 PRATERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 0 Almighty God, Brighter than the sun, Purer than the 
 ano^els, and in Whose Sight the heavens ai‘e not clean. Thou 
 didst make me after Thy Image, be pleased in Thy mercy to 
 preserve me so. Grant that my body may be a holy temple, 
 and my soul a sanctuary for Thy Divine Spirit. Let my 
 thoughts be pure, my words chastened, my spirit devout and 
 religious. Give me the spirit of temperance and sobriety, 
 and let me eat and drink so that my food may not become a 
 temptation or a sin. Teach me to be contented with what 
 is moderate and useful, and easy to be obtained, receiving 
 Thy gifts thankfully, and watching over my appetite with 
 caution and with prudence, that so in the strength of 
 Thy mercies and refreshments I may walk before Thee 
 all the days of my life, acceptable to Thee through Jesus 
 Christ ; and being filled with His Spirit, may at last 
 partake of His glory, through the same Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
/rra 
 
 Secondly, that I should believe all the Articles of 
 the Christian Faith. 
 
 / r/A ^ 
 
THE CREED. 
 
 / 
 
 {^Compiled from St. Augustme's Sermon to the 
 Catechumens ) 
 
 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common 
 salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye 
 should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the 
 saints.” — St. Jude 3. 
 
 “ There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope 
 of your calling ; one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.” — Epii. iv. 4, 5. 
 
 “ Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in 
 faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was com- 
 mitted unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” — 2 Tuu. 
 L 13, 14. 
 
 “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto 
 you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As 
 we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel 
 unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” — Gal. i. 8, 9. 
 
 “ For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made 
 known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
 eye-witnesses of His majesty.” — 2 St. Pet. i. 16. 
 
 “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have 
 been taught, whether by word or our epistle.” — 2 Thes. ii. 15. 
 
 “A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition reject; 
 knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned 
 of himself.” — Titus iii. 10, 11. 
 
 “ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, 
 praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for 
 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” — St. Jude 20, 21. 
 
 Receive, my children, the Rule of Faith, which is 
 called the Symbol (or Creed). And when ye have 
 received it, write it in your heart, and be daily saying 
 
96 
 
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 it to yourselves. The Creed no man writes so as it may 
 be able to be read ; but for rehearsal of it, lest haply 
 forgetfulness obliterate what care hath delivered, let 
 your memory be your record roll. What ye are about 
 to hear, that are ye to believe; and what ye shall have 
 believed, that ye are about to give back with your 
 tongue. For the Apostle says, “ With the heart man 
 believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth con- 
 fession is made unto salvation.” This is the Creed 
 which ye are to rehearse and repeat. 
 
 The words which ye hear are in the Divine Scrip- 
 tures scattered up and down : but thence gathered and 
 reduced into one, that the memory of slow persons 
 might not be distressed ; that every person may be able 
 to say, able to hold, what he believes. 
 
 ‘‘ I believe in God, the Father Almighty.” God is 
 Almighty, and yet, though Almighty, He cannot die, 
 cannot be deceived, cannot lie, and, as the Apostle 
 says, “cannot deny Himself.” How many things that 
 He cannot do, and yet is Almighty ! yea, therefore is 
 Almighty, because He cannot do these things. For if 
 He could die. He were not Almighty ; if to lie, if to be 
 be deceived, if to do unjustly, were possible for Him, 
 lie were not Almighty ; because if this were in Him, 
 He should not be worthy to be Almighty. To our 
 Almighty Father, it is quite impossible to sin. He 
 does whatsoever He will ; that is omnipotence. He 
 does whatsoever He rightly will. He justly will : but 
 whatsoever is evil to do. He wills not. There is no 
 resisting one who is Almighty, that He should not do 
 what He will. It was He who made heaven and earth, 
 
THE CREED 
 
 97 
 
 the sea and all that in them is, invisible and visible. 
 Invisible such as are in Heaven, — thrones, dominions, 
 principalities, powers, archangels, angels: all, if we shall 
 live aright, our fellow-citizens. He made in heaven 
 the things visible ; the sun, the moon, the stars. With 
 its terrestial animals He adorned the earth ; filled the 
 air with the things that fiy ; the land with them that 
 walk and creep ; the sea with them that swim : — all 
 He filled with their own proper creatures. He made 
 also man after His own Image and likeness in the mind ; 
 for in that is the Imao'e of God. 
 
 o 
 
 To this end were we made, that over the other 
 creatures we should bear rule. But through sin in the 
 first man we fell, and are all come into an inheritance 
 of death. We were brought low, became mortal, were 
 filled with fears, with errors ; and this by desert of sin ; 
 with which desert and guilt is every man born. 
 
 For this cause, by reason of one who fell and 
 brought all into death, there was sent One without sin, 
 who should bring unto life, by delivering from sin, all 
 that believe on Him. 
 
 For this reason we believe also in His Son, that is 
 to say, God the Father Almighty’s, “ His Only Son our 
 Lord.” When thou hearest of the Only Son of God, 
 acknowledge Him God. For it could not be that God’s 
 Only Son should not' be God. Hold ye therefore boldly, 
 firmly, faithfully, that the Begotten of God the Father 
 is what Himself is. Almighty. Corruptible begets cor- 
 ruptible : Incorruptible begets incorruptible. Do not 
 imagine an Almighty Father, and a not Almighty Son ; 
 it is error, blot it out within you ; let it not cleave in 
 5 
 
98 
 
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 your memory ; let it not be drunk into your faith. Al- 
 mighty is the Father, Almighty the Son. Whatsoever 
 things the Father doeth, these also the Son doeth like- 
 wise. Which word although ye say not in the Creed, 
 yet this is it that ye express when ye believe in the 
 Only Son, Himself God. Many and innumerable are 
 the testimonies by which it is proved that the Son is 
 very Son of God the Father ; and the Father, God, hath 
 His very begotten Son, God ; and the Father and the 
 Son is one God. 
 
 But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty, 
 let us see what He did for us, and what He suftered 
 for us. “Born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin 
 Mary.” He, so great God, equal with the Father, born 
 of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, born lowly 
 that thereby He might heal the proud ! Man exalted 
 himself and fell ; God humbled Himself, and raised him 
 up. God hath stretched out an hand to man laid low. 
 We fell. He descended. We lay low. He stooped. 
 
 Let us lay hold and rise, that we fall not into 
 punishment. 
 
 What next? “Suffered under Pontius Pilate.” 
 He was in office as governor, and was the judge, this 
 same Pontius Pilate, what time as Christ suffered. In 
 the name of the judge there is a mark of the times when 
 He suffered, under Pontius Pilate : when He suffered, 
 “ Was crucified, dead, and buried.” 
 
 Who ? what ? for whom ? 
 
 Who ? God’s Only Son, our Lord. What ? Cruci- 
 fied, dead, and buried. For whom ? For ungodly and 
 sinners. 
 
THE CREED. 
 
 99 
 
 Great condescension ! Great grace ! “ What shall I 
 render unto the Lord, for all that He hath bestowed on 
 me ! ” 
 
 He was begotten before all times, before all worlds. 
 Yet do not imagine in this Nativity a beginning of time ; 
 do not imagine any space of Eternity, in which the 
 Father was, and the Son was not. 
 
 How, thou wilt say, was He begotten, if He have 
 no beginning ? We are among things of earth ; let the 
 earth give me similitude : it gives none. Let the ele- 
 ment of the waters give me some similitude : neither 
 can this do it. Let us find the coeval and imagine it 
 co-eternal. On earth we can find some coeval ; we 
 cannot find any co-eternal. Imagine to yourselves fire 
 as father, its shining as son; see, we have found the 
 coeval. From the instant that the fire begins to be, 
 that instant it begets the shining; neither fire before 
 shining, nor shining after fire. And if we ask, which 
 begets which ? the fire the shining, or the shining the 
 fire ? immediately ye conceive by natural sense, by the 
 innate wit of your minds ye all cry out, “ The fire the 
 shining, not the shining the fire.” Lo, here you have 
 a father beginning ; lo, a son at the same time ; neither 
 going before nor coming after. If I have shown you a 
 father beginning, and a son at the same time beginning, 
 believe the Father not beginning, and with Him the 
 Son not beginning either ; the one eternal, the other 
 co-eternal. 
 
 If ye get on with your learning, ye understand ; 
 take pains to get on. The being born, ye have ; but 
 also the growing ye ought to have ; because no man 
 begins with being perfect. 
 
100 
 
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 As for the Son of God, indeed, He could be born 
 perfect, because He was begotten without time, co-eternal 
 with the Father, long before all things, not in age, but 
 in Eternity. Begotten of the Father without time. 
 He was born of the Virgin in the fulness of times. In 
 opportunity of time, when He would, when He knew, 
 then was He born : for He was not born without His 
 will. None of us is born because he will, and none ot 
 us dies when he will. Christ, when He would, was 
 born ; Avhen He would. He died. How He would, He 
 was born ; of a Virgin : how He would. He died ; on 
 the Cross. W'hatever He would. He did ; because He 
 was in such wise Man that, unseen, He was God. One 
 Christ, God and Man. 
 
 Of His Cross what shall I speak, what say ? This 
 extremest kind of death He chose, that not any kind of 
 death might make His martyrs afraid. He showed us 
 in the Cross what we ought to endure. He showed in 
 the Resurrection what we have to hope. Just like a 
 consummate task-master in the matches of the arena. 
 He said, Do, and bear; do the work, and receive the 
 prize ; strive in the match, and thou shalt be crowned. 
 What is the work ? Obedience. What the prize ? 
 Resurrection without death. Why did I add without 
 death ? Because Lazarus rose, and died ; Christ rose 
 again, “ dieth no more ; death will no longer have 
 dominion over Him.” 
 
 “ He ascended into heaven.” He is there. And 
 let not your heart say to you, what is lie doing ? Do 
 not want to seek what is not permitted to find. He is 
 there ; it suffices you. He is blessed, and from blessed- 
 
THE CREED. 
 
 101 
 
 ness which is called the right hand of the Father. 
 Tliei’e it is all right-hand, because no misery is there. 
 
 “Thence lie shall come to judge the quick and the 
 dead.” The quick who shall be alive and remain ; the 
 dead who shall have gone before. It may also be 
 undei'stood thus: the living, the just; the dead, the 
 unjust. For He judges both, rendering unto each his 
 own. To the just he will say in the Judgment, “ Come, 
 ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world.” For this 
 prepare yourselves, for these things hope, for this live ; 
 and so live that it may be said .to you, “ Come, ye 
 blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world.” 
 
 To them on the left hand, what ? “ Go into ever- 
 
 lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Thus 
 will they be judged by Christ, the quick and the dead. 
 
 We have spoken of Christ’s first Nativity, which is 
 without time ; spoken of the other in the fulness of 
 time, Christ’s Nativity of the Virgin; spoken of the 
 Passion of Christ ; spoken of the coming of Christ to 
 judgment. The whole is spoken, that was to be spoken 
 of Christ, God’s Only Son, our Lord. But not yet is 
 the Trinity perfect. 
 
 It follows in the Creed : “ And in the Holy Ghost.” 
 Would ye know the Holy Ghost that He is God? If 
 ye be baptized, ye are His Temple. The Apostle says, 
 “ Know ye not that your bodies are the Temple within 
 you of the Holy Ghost, whom ye have of God ? ” A 
 temple is for God : thus also Solomon, king and pro- 
 phet, was bidden to build a temple for God. If he had 
 
102 
 
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 built a temple for the sun or moon, or some star or 
 some angel, would not God condemn him ? Because, 
 therefore, he built a temple for God, he showed that he 
 worshipped God. If then it be God that builds our 
 bodies, God that builds our members, and our bodies 
 are the Temple of the Holy Ghost, doubt not that the 
 Holy Ghost is God, And do not add as it were a 
 third God ; because Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost 
 is one God. So believe ye. 
 
 It follows after commendation of the Trinity, “ The 
 Holy Church.” God is pointed out, and His Temple. 
 “ For the Temple of God is holy,” says the Apostle, 
 “ which (Temple) are ye.” This same is the Holy 
 Church, the one Church, the true Church, the Catholic 
 Church, fighting against all heresies. Fight it can : be 
 fought down, it cannot. As for heresies, they went all 
 out of it, like as unprofitable branches pruned from the 
 vine ; but itself abideth in its root, in its vine, in its 
 charity. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
 Both heretics and schismatics call their consfreorations 
 churches. But heretics, by holding false doctrines con- 
 cerning God, violate the very faith ; and schismatics, on 
 the other hand, by unrighteous rendings asunder, break 
 away from brotherly love, although they believe the 
 same things as ourselves. 
 
 “ Forgiveness of sins.” Ye have this Article of the 
 Creed perfectly in you when ye receive Baptism. Ye 
 have been baptized : hold fast a good life in the com- 
 mandments of God, that ye may guard your Baptism 
 even unto the end. I no not tell you that ye will live 
 here without- sin ; but they are venial, without which 
 
THE CREED. 
 
 103 
 
 this life is not. For the sake of all sins was Baptism 
 provided ; for the sake of light sins, without which we 
 cannot be, was prayer provided. What saith the 
 prayer? “Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our 
 debtoi-s.” Once for all, we have washing in Baptism, 
 every day we have washing in prayer. Only, do not 
 commit those things for which ye must needs be sepa- 
 rated from Christ’s body, which be far from you ! 
 
 We believe also the “ Resurrection of the flesh,” 
 which went before in Christ ; that the body too may 
 have hope of that which went before in its Head. The 
 Head of the Church, Christ ; — the Church, the body 
 of Christ. Our Head is risen, ascended into heaven ; — 
 where- is the Head, there also must be the members. 
 
 In what way is the Resurrection of the flesh ? Lest 
 any should chance to think it like as Lazarus’s resurrec- 
 tion, that thou mayest know it to be not so, it is added 
 — “ Into life everlasting.” 
 
 God regenerate you ! God preserve and keep you ! 
 God bring you safe unto Himself, who is the Life 
 Everlasting ! Amen. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, (be. 
 
 Consider whether you are inclined to think that it is not 
 of much consequence what persons believe as long as their 
 lives are good. This is a common and a dangerous error. 
 If God, who is Truth itself, has revealed certain facts to man- 
 kind, it is most presumptuous and irreverent to suppose that 
 it does not signify whether we believe them. We should not 
 think so as regards men. There is nothing which mankind 
 are so jealous of as their reputation for truth, that what they 
 say shall be at once believed ; for God has made it a part of 
 
104 
 
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 their nature to love and depend upon truth. The early 
 Christians, those who lived nearest to the times of the Apos- 
 tles, repeated the Creed as the truth revealed from Heaven ; 
 and our own reason shows us that it is in perfect accordance 
 with the Bible; and, therefore, to reject any part of it, is to 
 set our own judgment against that which Scripture and the 
 testimony of the Church in all ages have pronounced to be 
 the truth of God Himself. 
 
 Consider how you have been accustomed to repeat the 
 Creed, and resolve for the future to do so with great reve- 
 rence and fixed attention ; for there are no words more 
 sacred, except the words of Holy Scripture itself. 
 
 If, as is very possible, you find it difficult to take an 
 interest in these questions of belief, yet force yourself to 
 treat them reverently, and in time you will understand more 
 of their vast importance. Think therefore whether you ever 
 allow yourself to argue upon points of belief, or customs and 
 ceremonies foreign to your own Church ; whether you read 
 books of controversy, merely for the sake of arguing upon 
 them ; whether you have ever been tempted by curiosity to 
 attend the religious services of persons who do not belong to 
 the Church. 
 
 Consider, also, whether you have a carping, criticising 
 spirit, and ever permit yourself to pass judgment upon the 
 persons set over you in the Church. It may sometimes be 
 necessary for older persons to condemn what they see to be 
 wrong in those in authority, but it can never be necessary for 
 the young; and the first step in this direction may lead you 
 — you cannot tell how far — from the right path. When you 
 begin to judge the actions of your guides, you will be easil}’" 
 led on to judge their teaching, and then you will make your- 
 self, as it were, infallible, and decide what is or what is not 
 to be believed, whilst from youth and ignorance you must be 
 utterly incompetent to form ari}^ true opinion upon the sub- 
 ject. If you see and hear what you have been taught to« 
 believe is error, put fortli by persons in authority, your only 
 safe course is to be silent, and try the more to live according 
 to the Bible, and pray according to the Prayer Book. 
 
THE CREED. 
 
 105 
 
 PRAYER. ^ 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, & q . 
 
 O Eternal God, Fountain of all Truth, in Whom to believe 
 is life eternal, let Thy grace descend with a mighty power 
 into my soul, breaking down every stronghold and vain 
 imagination, and bringing every proud thought into cap- 
 tivity to the obedience of Christ. Take from me all preju- 
 dice and weakness of understanding, mortify in me all 
 peevishness and uncharitableness, all heretical dispositions, 
 and whatsoever is contrary to sound doctrine. Give me 
 great boldness in the public confession of Thy name, and 
 the truth of the Gospel; and enable me to make Thy Word 
 the measure of my knowledge, and Thy laws the rule of my 
 l.fe, that when the Eternal Son of God, the “Author and 
 Finisher of our Faith,” shall come to make scrutin}^ of our 
 faith, 1 may receive the promises laid up for them that wait 
 for the Lord Jesus, to whom, with Thee, O Father, and Thee, 
 O blessed Spirit, be all honour and adoration paid, now and 
 for ever. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, Ac. 
 
 6 * 
 
J 
 
 GOD, THE FATHER EVERLASTING. 
 
 {8t. Augustine.) 
 
 “Though there be that are called gods, whether in Heaven or in earth 
 (as there are gods many, and lords many), but to us there is but one God, 
 the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him.” — 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6. 
 
 “The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting 
 King ; at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be 
 able to abide His indignation.” — Jeremiah x. 10. 
 
 “ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted 
 out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a mea- 
 sure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? Who 
 hath directed the Spirit of the Lord? or being His counsellor hath taught 
 Him ? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught 
 Him in the way of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to 
 Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a 
 bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold. He taketh 
 uj) the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sutRcient to burn, 
 nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before 
 Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and 
 vanity.” — Isaiah xi. 12 — 17. 
 
 “ To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy 
 One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, 
 that bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by names, by 
 the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.’i 
 Isaiah xl. 25, 26. 
 
 “ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power : 
 for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were 
 created.” — 1’ev. iv. 11. 
 
 “Of old hast Tliou laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens 
 are the work of Thy hands. Tliey sliall perish, but Thou shalt endure: 
 yea, all of them shall v'ax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Tliou 
 change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Tliy 
 years shall have no end.” — Psalm cii. 25, 26, 27. 
 
107 
 
 GOD, THE FATIIEU EVERLASTING. 
 
 I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of 
 many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. Alleluia: for 
 the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” — Rev. xix. 6. 
 
 “The Lord, tlie Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
 abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
 iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the 
 guilty ; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the 
 children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” — Exodus 
 xxxiv, 6, T. . 
 
 “<6 God, Thou art my God, early will I seek Thee.”— Psalm Ixiii. 1 .) 
 
 As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after 
 Thee, O God.” — Psalm, xlii. 1. 
 
 ‘‘ Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised ; 
 great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite.” And 
 Thee would man praise ; man — but a particle of Thy 
 creation ; man — that bears about him his mortality, the 
 witness of his sin, the witness that “ Thou resistest the 
 proud.” Yet would man praise Thee ; he, but a par- 
 ticle of Thy creation. Thou awakest us to delight in 
 Thy praise ; for Thou raadest us for Thyself, and our 
 heart is restless, until it repose in Thee. 
 
 Behold, “heaven, and earth, and all that therein 
 is,” on every side they bid me love Thee, nor cease to 
 say so unto all, that they may be without excuse. 
 
 But what do I love, when I love Thee ? 
 
 I asked the earth, and it answered me, “ I am not 
 He ; ” and whatsoever are in it confessed the same. I 
 asked the sea and the deeps, and the living creeping 
 things, and they answered, “We are not thy God ; seek 
 above us.” I asked the moving air ; and the whole air 
 with its inhabitants answered, “Anaximenes was de- 
 ceived, I am not God.” I asked the heavens, sun, 
 moon, stars, “ JSTor (say they) are we the God whom 
 tliou seekest” And I replied unto all the things which 
 
108 
 
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 encompass the door of my flesh, “Ye have told me of 
 my God, that ye are not He ; tell me sometliing of 
 Him.” And they cried out with a loud voice, “ He 
 made us.” 
 
 What art Thou, then, my God ? what but the Lord 
 God ? For who is the Lord but the Lord ? or who isi> 
 God save our God ? 
 
 I acknowledge Thee, Lord of heaven and earth ; 
 Thou Who for ever livest, and in Whom nothing dies.. 
 For before the foundation of the worlds, and before all 
 that can be called “ before,” Thou art, and art God and 
 Lord of all which Thou hast created. In Thee abide^ 
 fixed for ever, the first causes of all things unabiding ; 
 and of all things changeable, the springs abide in Thee 
 unchangeable; and in Thee live the eternal reasons of 
 all things unreasoning and temporal. Thou Thyself 
 art supremely Essence and Life. “ For Thou art most 
 high, and art not changed, neither in Thee doth to-day 
 come to a close;” for since “Thy years fail not, Thy 
 years are one to-day.” How many of ours and our 
 fathers’ years have flowed away through Thy “ to-day,” 
 and from it received the measure and mould of such 
 being as they had ; and still others shall flow away, and 
 so receive the mould of their degree of being. But 
 “Thou art still the same;” and all things of to-morrow, 
 and all beyond, and all of yesterday, and all behind it, 
 Thou hast done to-day. 
 
 God — most highest, most good, most potent, most 
 omnijx)tent ; most merciful, yet most just ; most hid- 
 den, yet most present; most beautiful, yet most strong; 
 stable, yet incomprehensible ; unchangeable, yet all- 
 
GOD, THE FATHER EVERLASTING. 
 
 109 
 
 clianging; never new, never old; all-renewing, and 
 “ bringing age upon the proud, and they know it not;” 
 ever working, ever at rest ; still gathering, yet nothing 
 lacking; supporting, filling, and over-spreading; cre- 
 ating, nourishing, and maturing ; seeking, yet having 
 all things. Thou lovest, without passion ; art jealous, 
 without anxiety ; repentest, yet grievest not ; art angry, 
 yet serene ; changest Thy works. Thy purpose un- 
 changed ; receivest again what Thou findest, yet never 
 didst lose ; never in need, yet rejoicing in gains ; never 
 covetous, yet exacting usury. Thou receivest over and 
 above, that Thou rnayest owe ; and who hath aught 
 that is not Thine ? Thou payest debts, owing nothing ; 
 reinittest debts, losing nothing. And what have I now 
 said, my God, my Life, my Holy Joy, or what saith 
 any man when he speaks of Thee? Yet woe to Him 
 that speaketh not, since mute are even the most elo- 
 quent 1 
 
 Thou, fairest of all, Creator of all. Thou good God, 
 God the sovereign good and our true good. Thou alone 
 art God exalted over all. 
 
 Ambition, what seeks it, but honours and glory ? 
 whereas Thou alone art to be honoured above all, and 
 glorious for evermore. The cruelty of the great would 
 fain be feared ; but who is to be feared but God alone, 
 out of Whose power what can be wrested or with- 
 drawn ? when, or where, or whither, or by whom ? 
 Curiosity makes semblance of a desire of knowledge ; 
 whereas Thou supremely knowest all. Sloth would fain 
 be at rest ; but what stable rest besides the Lord ? 
 Luxury affects to be called plenty and abundance ? but 
 
110 
 
 READINGS EOR A MONTH. 
 
 Thou art the fulness and never-failing plenteousness of 
 incorruptible pleasures. Prodigality presents a shadow 
 of liberality ; but thou art the most overflowing Giver 
 of all good. Covetousness would possess many things; 
 and Thou possessest all things. Envy disputes for ex- 
 cellency ; what more excellent than Thou ? Anger 
 seeks revenge ; who revenges more justly than Thou ? 
 Fear startles at things unwonted and sudden, which en- 
 danger things beloved ; and takes forethought for their 
 safety ; but to Thee what unwonted or sudden, or who 
 separateth from Thee what Thou lovest ? or where but 
 with Thee is unshaken safety ? Grief pines away for 
 things lost, the delight of its desires ; because it would 
 have nothing taken from it, as nothing can from Thee. 
 
 Blessed then whoso loveth Thee, and his friend in 
 Thee, and his enemy for Thee. For he alone loses none 
 dear to him, to whom all are dear in Him Who cannot 
 be lost. And who is this but our God, the “ God that 
 made heaven and earth,” and “ filleth them,” because by 
 filling them He created them. Thee none loseth but 
 whoso leaveth. And who leaveth Thee, whither goeth 
 or whither fleeth he, but from Thee well-pleased to Thee 
 displeased ? 
 
 “ Turn us, 0 God of Hosts ; show us Thy Counte- 
 nance, and we shall be whole.” For whithersoever the 
 soul of man turns itself, unless towards Thee, it is rivet- 
 ed upon sorrows, yea, though it is riveted on things 
 beautiful. They rise and set; and by rising, they begin 
 as it were to be ; they grow that they may be perfected ; 
 and perfected they wax old and wither ; and all grow 
 not old, but all wither. So then when they rise and 
 
GOD, THE FATHER EVERLASTING. Hi 
 
 tend to be, the more quickly they grow that they may 
 be, so much the more they haste not to be. In these 
 things is no place of repose ; they abide not, they flee ; 
 and who can follow them with the senses of the flesh ? 
 For in the Word by which they are created they hear 
 their decree, “ hence and hitherto.” 
 
 Be not foolish, O my soul ! nor become deaf in the 
 ear of thine heart with the tumult of thy folly. 
 Hearken thou too. The Word itself calleth thee to re- 
 turn ; and there is the place of rest imperturbable, 
 where love is not forsaken, if itself forsaketh not. Be- 
 hold ! these things pass away, that others may replace 
 them, and so this lower universe be complete by all its 
 parts. But do I depart any whither ? saith the Word 
 of God. There fix thy dwelling, trust there whatsoever 
 thou hast therein. 
 
 If bodies please thee, praise God on occasion of 
 them, and turn back thy love upon their Maker ; lest 
 in those things which please thee, thou displease. 
 
 If souls please thee, be they loved in God : for they 
 too are mutable, but in Him are they firmly established; 
 else would they pass, and pass away. In Him then be 
 they beloved ; and carry unto Him along with thee 
 what souls thou canst, and say to them, “ Him let us 
 love. Him let us love:” He made these, nor is He far 
 off. For He did not make them, and so depart ; but 
 they are of Him, and in Him. 
 
 Too late have I loved Thee, O Thou — Beauty of 
 ancient days, yet ever new, too late have I loved Thee 1 
 
 For when I shall with my whole self cleave to Thee, 
 I shall nowhere have sorrow or labour ; and my life 
 
112 
 
 READINGS EOR A MONTH. 
 
 shall wholly live, as wholly full of Thee. But now, 
 because I arn not full of Thee, I am a burden to my- 
 self. Lamentable joys strive with joyous sorrows ; and 
 on which side is the victory, I know not. 
 
 Is not the life of man upon earth all trial ? In ad- 
 versity, I long for prosperity ; in prosperity, I fear ad- 
 versity. What middle place is there betwixt these two, 
 where ‘‘ the life of man is” not ‘‘ all trial ?” 
 
 Woe to the prosperities of the world, once and 
 again, through fear of adversity, and corruption of joy ! 
 Woe to the adversities of the world, once and again, 
 and the third time, from the longing for prosperity, and 
 because adversity itself is a hard thing, and lest it shat- 
 ter endurance. Is not the ‘Mite of man upon earth all 
 trial,” without any interval ? 
 
 But O that I might repose on Thee ! O that Thou 
 wouldst enter into my heart, that I may forget my ills, 
 and embrace Thee, my sole Good ! For behold. Thou 
 art there, in the heart of those that confess to Thee, and 
 cast themselves upon Thee, and weep in Thy bosom, 
 after all their rugged ways. Then dost Thou gently 
 wipe away their tears, and they weep the more, and 
 joy in weeping ; even for that Thou, Lord, not man of 
 flesh and blood, but Thou, Lord, who madest them, re- 
 makest and comfortest them. 
 
 Therefore suffer me to speak unto Thy mercy ; me, 
 “ dust and ashes,” suffer me to speak, since I speak to 
 Thy mercy, and not to scornful man. Thou too per- 
 haps despisest me, yet wilt Thou “ return and have 
 compassion on me.” Accept the sacrifice of my con- 
 fessions from the ministry of my tongue, which Thou 
 hast formed aiid stirred up to confess unto Thy Name. 
 
GOD, THE FATHER EVERLASTING. 
 
 113 
 
 Narrow is the mansion of my sonl ; enlarge Thou 
 it, that Thou mayst enter in. It is ruinous ; repair 
 Thou it. It has tliat within which must offend Tliine 
 Eye ; I confess and know it. But who shall cleanse it, 
 or to whom shall I cry, save unto Thee? 
 
 ‘‘ Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare 
 Thy servant from the power of the enemy.” Heal Thou 
 all my bones, and let them say, ‘‘ O Lord, who is like 
 unto Thee?” and let my soul praise Thee that it may 
 love Thee, and let it confess Thy own mercies to Thee 
 that it may praise Thee. 
 
 “ O Lord our God, under the shadow of Thy wings 
 let me hope ; protect me and carry me.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self -Examination. 
 
 Think whether you have ever in any way tried to feel 
 your own infinite littleness, and the unutterable greatness of 
 God ; whether you have ever set yourself to think of your 
 own weakness, simplicity, changeableness, and of His aAvful 
 Wisdom, Purity, and ever-abiding Majesty. 
 
 If you have gone on from day to day without trying to 
 think, or shrinking from the effort which such considerations 
 require, try to teach yourself by degrees. Take a flower, 
 for instance, and examine it carefully ; endeavour to describe 
 to yourself as you would to a child its beauty, fragrance, 
 wonderfully delicate formation; think of the man}^ flowers 
 there are in your garden, in England, in the world : you will 
 soon be lost in infinity. Then think of your own attempts to 
 do some trifling thing, what trouble and thought it demands; 
 this will perhaps give you some very slight perception of 
 your own nothingness : but if you have no feeling upon the 
 subject, still do not despair. We cannot give ourselves feel- 
 ings, and we shall never obtain them by thinking about 
 
114 
 
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 them ; but if we govern our thoughts properly, the feelings 
 will come in time ; or rather God will give them to us. Thus 
 if we force ourselves on one occasion to connect the idea of 
 the Wonderful Wisdom and Goodness of God with a flower, 
 the association will continue. When we see the flower again 
 it will naturally recall the idea; and the idea, when it has 
 ceased to be forced, will, we may trust, be accompanied by 
 a devout feeling. So it may be in other cases. It is one of 
 the greatest advantages in the study of what is called Natu- 
 ral History, that it helps us to perceive something of the un- 
 speakable Wisdom of God. 
 
 Consider whether, in cases of illness, danger, or difficulty, 
 you think first of the help of man or the protection of God. 
 
 Think whether you ever pray to God to give you a 
 deeper sense of His Majesty, for it is impossible for us to 
 attain it by ourselves. 
 
 Think whether you can at all enter into the feelings of 
 love and devotion to an Almighty God expressed in the 
 Psalms, or even in the paper you have just read. Do not try 
 to rouse the same feelings in yourself if you are conscious 
 that you do not possess them, but consider them an example 
 of what good men may and do feel, and what you may one 
 day hope to feel likewise, if you will only go on steadily, 
 step by step, trying to serve God with all your heart, 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fcc. 
 
 O Lord God, in Whose sanctuary is power and honour, 
 before Whose presence is glory and worship, fill my soul, I 
 beseech Thee, with great devotion and awful reverence 
 towards Thee, my God ; make me to love Thy Goodness, to 
 adore Thy Omnipotency, to reverence Thy Justice, to fear Thy 
 Majesty, to admire and tremble at Thy Omniscience and Om- 
 nipotence ; teach me to contemplate, with the greatest zeal 
 and affection, the glories which Thou communicatest to the 
 sons of men, in the revelations of Thy Gospel, that I may 
 
GOD, THE FATHER EVERLASTING. 
 
 115 
 
 tell of Thy greatness, and declare Thy salvation from day to 
 day; and, when Thou comest with righteousness to judge 
 the earth, and all people with Thy truth, I may rejoice in 
 Thee everlastingly, and sing an eternal hallelujah to Thee in 
 Thy sanctuary. 
 
 Grant this for Jesus Christ’s sake, our Lord and only 
 Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
THE INCAENATION. 
 
 “ I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy 
 seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” 
 Genesis hi. 15. 
 
 “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin 
 shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” — Isaiah 
 vii. 14. 
 
 “ And the angel said unto her. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour 
 with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring 
 forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be 
 called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the 
 throne of His father David : and He shall reign over the house of Jacob 
 for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” — St. Luke i. 80 — 83. 
 
 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
 Word was God.” — St. John i. 1. 
 
 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld 
 His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace 
 and truth.” — St. John i. 14. 
 
 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. 
 He also Himself likewise took part of the same : that through death He 
 might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” — IIeb. 
 
 ii. 14. 
 
 “ Without controversy great is the mystery of godlin(‘SS : God was 
 manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto 
 the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” — 1 Tim. 
 
 iii. 16. 
 
 “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” — Col. 
 ii. 9, 
 
 “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present 
 you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the 
 only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
 both now and for ever. Amen.” — Jude 24, 25. , 
 
 Of old, men fell down and worshipped when, in our 
 Creed, they uttered that depth of mystery unsearchable, 
 “God was niade Man.” 
 
THE INCARNATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 It was an unimaginable condescension for God to 
 create. From eternity, in eternity (since it had no be- 
 ginning)^ He was Ever-blessed, All-perfect. He needed 
 nothing, changed not; and yet, in that He created, He 
 did a new thing, and formed those who needed Him, as 
 though He needed them. He formed them to serve 
 Him Who needed them not, and He accepted their ser- 
 vice. It was much, as Scripture saith, to humble Him- 
 self to behold the things which are in Heaven and 
 earth. But that He, who was perfect in Himself, 
 should take unto Himself something without Him; 
 that God (if we realize to ourselves what that word 
 God is) should take unto Himself what is not God ; one 
 must stand speechless with awe at so amazing a mys- 
 tery. 
 
 “Let this mind be in you,” says St. Paul, “which 
 was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made 
 Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form 
 of a servant.” The full force of that for which we read 
 “ He made Himself of no reputation,” is “ He emptied 
 Himself.” 
 
 “He emptied Himself.” He — the Eternal Son of 
 the Eternal Father, God of God, Light of Light, co- 
 equal with the Father, who hath neither beginning nor 
 end, but is Himself “ the Beginning and the End, the 
 First and the Last,” Uncreate and the Creator, Infinite, 
 Almighty, dwelling Ever-blessed in the Infinite Love of 
 the Father, worshipped by cherubim and seraphim, and 
 all the host of heaven, and the heaven of heavens — 
 became what He was not, Flesh ; and since what He 
 
118 
 
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 was — God, He could not cease to be, yet He was as 
 though He were It not. 
 
 Awful words to use, “ God became,” — as though 
 the Unchangeable could change. Yet he says, “ The 
 Word, who was God, became Flesh;” became, not by 
 ceasing to be what He was, but by taking unto Him- 
 self what He was not. 
 
 . He emptied Himself — He the Creator passed by all 
 the heavenly hosts, angels, archangels, mights, thrones, 
 dominions, principalities, powers, the cherubim and 
 seraphim, all the ninety-and-nine orders of heaven, who 
 went not astray ; passed by, without a restoring look, 
 the fallen angels, whose captives we were, and came 
 down to us, in ourselves the last of His rational Crea- 
 tion, and who had since defaced, one by one, every 
 feature of His Image, yea, and as He knew would 
 again deface it, when He had retraced it on us. The 
 eternal Son did not appear only in our nature, but 
 united it more closely to Himself than our souls to our 
 bodies ; for they shall be separated for a time, by death: 
 the Godhead shall never be divided from His Man- 
 hood. 
 
 He became Man, in all his infirmity, all the infirmi- 
 ties brought upon him by sin, only not sin itself. He 
 so became man, that the tears which man hides for 
 shame. He wept, — wept as one who suftered, and was, 
 as it were, mastered by suffering, as though He could 
 not but weep. There burst from His body “ sweat, as 
 it were great drops of blood,” the sign of weakness, the 
 very penalty of Adam’s sin. He was hungry, and 
 thirsty, and wearied. He prayed, and praying was 
 
THE INCARNATION. 
 
 119 
 
 heard, tliougli Himself was God. He was strengthened, 
 as man, by the angel whom, as God, He created. He 
 “emptied Himself” of His Immortality, and the Im- 
 mortal died. 
 
 The Divine words speak of Him as at once Perfect 
 God and Perfect Man. He was both wholly. Nothing 
 was lacking to His Perfection, as God ; nothing of 
 man’s infirmities, which flow from sin, though without 
 touch of sin, was lacking that He should be Perfect 
 Man. He was “in the form of God,” that is, in the 
 very Essence of God ; “ in the form of man,” that is, in 
 the essence of man. Before, He was in that only, 
 whereby God is what He is ; the “ form of God,” the 
 fulness of Divinity. He “ emptied Himself,” and took 
 the fulness of human nature, all which maketh it what 
 it is. 
 
 All His attributes He veiled and hid : — His Infinity, 
 to abide within the Virgin’s womb ; His eternity, to 
 receive birth in time ; His Unchangeableness, to grow 
 in stature ; His Wisdom, “ for our sake and among us 
 to be ignorant as man,” “ of that which, as Lord, He 
 knew ; ” His Self-sufficingness, that He, who had all 
 things, became as though He had nothing. 
 
 How, indeed, must He have “ emptied Himself” of 
 His Majesty, Who, when “ with one rough word ” He 
 could have destroyed the ungodly, and “ with the 
 breath of His mouth” have slain the wicked, was Him- 
 self sold into their hands, for the price of a bond slave ! 
 
 He, before whom angels veil their face, hid not His 
 face from shame and spitting : man discerned nothing 
 to awe him from bufteting that Countenance, before 
 
120 
 
 HEADINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 whicli the wicked shall melt away. The Judge of 
 heav^en and earth stood before the wicked judges, and 
 they beheld neither His innocence, nor their own guilt. 
 They condemned Him because He owned that He was 
 what He was, — God. So wholly was He made like 
 unto us, in all things, sin only excepted, that man 
 could not discern that He, the Holy God, was not 
 (shocking to say) unholy man. 
 
 This then is the intensity of the mystery of the 
 Incarnation, “God with us;” that, to retrace His image 
 upon us. He who is the Co-Eternal Image of the Father, 
 took us into Himself, and stamped again His likeness 
 upon us, by taking the likeness of our sinfulness. And 
 if He be such to us in deed and in the fulness of His 
 purpose, if He have been thus “ God with us,” and pur- 
 poseth that we should be thus “with God,” if He have 
 so taken our poor nature into Himself, how should He 
 not be “ with us” now in all things, if we be His? 
 
 He left us but to be closer to us ; left us in Bodily 
 Presence but to be present still more nearly in Spirit, 
 not without us any longer, as Teacher, Guide, Com- 
 forter ; but through that other Comforter, within us ; 
 withdrawn from our bodily sight, to fill our souls ; no 
 longer to be touched or handled by our hands, that 
 His Spirit might be made manifest to our Spirit. 
 
 And being Man with us, how, if our eyes were not 
 “holden,” and our hearts dull, might we not, in all the 
 actions of life, see Him by our side, join Himself to us, 
 and hear His words, and our hearts burn within us? 
 Whatever our age, such hath His been. Infancy, 
 childhood, > opening youth, full age; all He took on 
 
THE INCARNATION. 
 
 121 
 
 Him, that He might hallow us in all : — how might we 
 in the commands of parents, hear that which He 
 obeyed ; in the reproof of elders, Ilis Voice (as it in- 
 deed is) ; submit to authority with Him ; bear revilings 
 with Him ; be poor with Him ; suffer cold, or hunger, 
 or pain, or bereavement, or friendlessness, with Him ; 
 with Him, by resigning, in early years, our own will, 
 learn what He ever had, to have no will but His 
 Father’s ! 
 
 And if we suffei’ed, and fasted, and mourned, and 
 wept with Him ; and, much more, if we strove, in His 
 strength, to keep that Innocency which was His, and 
 which again, in Baptism, He gave us ; then we might 
 rejoice with Him, feast with Him, lie down to rest in 
 Him, awake in Him, as the emblem of our rising in 
 Him, see Him “in all fair things around.” For all 
 which we see hath its uses or beauties, from Him. He 
 is our Corn and Wine, and His Spirit is our Oil ; He 
 our Sun of Righteousness, or our Shadow in heat ; 
 the Shower on our parched ground ; the Bow in the 
 cloud. In Him are we washed, in Him clothed ; He 
 is our Robe of Righteousness and Immortality , He is 
 our Home and our sure Abiding Place ; and all things 
 in this earth may speak of Him. For we dwell in a 
 redeemed world, which His Sacred Footsteps have trod 
 and sanctified. 
 
 Only, if we would truly see Him, we must seek to 
 have the mirror of our hearts cleansed, that it may 
 receive His glorious ImagS “ The pure in heart,” He 
 hath promised, “ shall see Him.” Of them who love 
 Him and keep His words, He saith, “ My Father will 
 6 
 
122 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 love him, and We will come unto him, and make Ouir 
 abode with him.” 
 
 We cannot, indeed, hallow ourselves ; but we can, 
 by His grace, put otf things unholy. We cannot fit 
 ourselves for His In-dwelling; but we can, through 
 Him, cast out all idols from our hearts. His Temple, 
 that they offend not His Holy Eyes. We cannot fill 
 ourselves, but we can, by His Goodness, empty our- 
 selves of all “ the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 the pride of life,” all which ‘‘is not of the Father, but 
 is of the world,” that He may give us of His Fulness. 
 We cannot give ourselves to Him, the True Bread 
 from heaven, nor create in ourselves hunger after Him 
 our Righteousness ; but we can abstain, through His 
 gracious aid, from filling our bellies with the swine- 
 l^usks, this world’s goods and vanities, accursed plea- 
 sures, which make men loathe as “light bread” the 
 manna which cometh down from heaven. 
 
 Wondrous things hath He done among us ; not 
 done among us only, but been among us ; not among 
 us only, but with us ; “ God with us,” by His Union 
 with our nature ; “ God with us,” by His In-dwelling in 
 ourselves. And what shall we bring Him ? Oh ! 
 wondrous exchange ! We need but bring Him our 
 sorrows, and miseries, and sins, — cast them down at 
 His Feet, and through His Grace leave them there, and 
 He will forthwith clothe us with some portion of His 
 Holiness, and give us of His Joy. We need but bring 
 Him of our emptiness, aift He will give us of His 
 Fulness; bring Him broken hearts, and He will re- 
 make them and bind them up, that they may be 
 
THE INCARNATION. 
 
 123 
 
 re-macle as vessels of His Glory to contain Himself; 
 feed us with His Body, which He took that it might be 
 broken for us ; wash us with His Blood, which He shed 
 for the remission of our sins ; gladden us with the 
 ‘‘new wine” of His Spirit, so that we should go forth 
 out of ourselves, new-born as little children in His 
 Holy Childhood, dying in His death, living by His 
 Life in us, to rise again through His Resurrection, who 
 is our Resurrection and our Life, on that glorious 
 Morrow which setteth not, the Morrow of His Eternity, 
 and Rest, and Joy, and Peace, into which His ‘Re- 
 deemed shall enter, — the Joy of their Lord. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, 
 
 You may perhaps have been accustomed to consider the 
 doctrine of the Incarnation as a truth, which it is necessary 
 and right to believe, but which need not be dwelt upon in 
 daily life. You will discover this by thinking whether you 
 ever do little duties, or practise self-denial, with the express 
 desire of being like your Saviour. If not, you have most 
 likely never realized to yourself that, although He was God, 
 yet He was also Man, made “like to us in all things, sin 
 only excepted.” 
 
 Think whether you have ever tried to imagine how infi- 
 nitely highly human nature — your own nature — has been 
 exalted, since it was united to the nature of God. You will 
 practise yourself in this thought if, when you are tempted 
 to wish for or take pleasure in rank, or fame, or grandeur, 
 you check yourself by considering that you have already a 
 position, not in life, but in eternity, far beyond the greatest 
 which this world can offer, beyond even that of angels ; and 
 that to trouble yourself about such things is in a certain 
 way as if the son of a king were to vex himself, because he 
 was not the son a gentleman. 
 
124 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Think how you bear the little troubles and vexations of 
 your life: pain, discomfort, hard words, disappointments; 
 are you much fretted by them ? If you are, think how your 
 Lord would have borne them. His nature was the same as 
 yours. The cold which you shrink from, He would natu- 
 rally have shrunk from also ; the pain which keeps you 
 from sleep, would have kept Him from sleep also; and so 
 with all your natural and sinless infirmities. Resolve, there- 
 fore, to try and bear the next annoyance which is sent you 
 quite quietly, without complaining, because this is what He 
 would have done. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, (fee. 
 
 O Holy and Almighty God, Father of mercies, Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, I adore,* and praise, and glorify Thy 
 infinite and unspeakable love, who hast sent Thy Son from 
 the bosom of felicities to take upon Him our nature, and our 
 misery, and our guilt, and hast made the Son of God to 
 become the Son of Man, that we might become the sons of 
 God, and partakers of the Divine Nature. 
 
 Since Thou hast so exalted human nature, be pleased also 
 to sanctify my person ; teach me to be meek, as He was 
 meek ; patient, as He was patient ; fill me with a devoted 
 love to my fellow-creatures, that I may be willing to give 
 myself for them, as He gave Himself for me ; and grant that 
 by a conformity to the humility, and laws, and sufferings of 
 my dearest Saviour, I may be united to His Spirit, and 
 brought to share His glorious Eternity, for His infinite 
 Merits and Mercies’ sake. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 “ Wlio hath believed oiir report ? and to whom is the arm of the juord 
 revealed ? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender piant, and as a 
 root out of a dry ground : He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we 
 shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him ; He is 
 despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; 
 and we hid as it were our face from Him ; He was despised, and we 
 esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our 
 sorrows : yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
 But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our 
 iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His 
 stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned 
 every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of 
 us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His 
 mouth: He is brougiit as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her 
 shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison 
 and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was 
 cut otf out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people wa^i 
 He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the 
 rich in His death ; because He had done no violence, neither was any 
 deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath 
 put Him to grief: when Thou shall make His soul an offering for sin. He 
 shall see His seed. He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord 
 shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall 
 be satisfied : by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; 
 for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion 
 M'ith the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because He 
 hath poured out His soul unto death : and Ho was numbered with the 
 transgressors ; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the 
 transgressors.”— Isaiah liii. 
 
 To the death of the Son of God in our nature, all 
 true Christians look as the source of life and salvation. 
 He died that we might live. He died, ‘‘the Just for 
 
126 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 the unjust ” that He might bring us to God. This is 
 one of the plainest truths of our religion, one of the first 
 elements of the Christian faith. But plain and element- 
 ary as this truth is, no Christian ever lived who has 
 fathomed its depth, or fully comprehended its meaning. 
 Those, indeed, who know the least, know much ; for 
 much in truth it is to know that He died for us. And 
 yet those who know the most, know but little. It is a 
 great and unfathomable mystery, and the more we con- 
 template it, standing as it were on the brink of the 
 deep, the more we are lost, as we gaze down into the 
 abysses of His Love. For the measure of the Cross is 
 the Infinite Love of God. 
 
 “ O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are His judg- 
 ments, and His ways past finding out.” 
 
 The Cross sets before us the truth of our condition, 
 the truth as it is in God, but the truth united with love. 
 It is in this mystery of Godliness that mercy and truth 
 are met together; and righteousness and peace have 
 sealed their covenant with the kiss of charity. And 
 because the Cross so far exceeded all that men could 
 know of compassionate love, more than once it is said, 
 “ As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My 
 ways than your ways, and My thoughts than your 
 thoughts ; ” and the reason is given, “ because His 
 mercy is so great towards those that fear Him.” 
 
 In nature, God is ever speaking to us from the 
 Cross, but ever covering that His Cross with unspeak- 
 able love. What do decay, and death, and sickness, 
 and “the whole creation groaning and travailing in 
 pain together,” teach us but the Cross ? 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 127 
 
 But in decays of autumn, and in setting suns, and 
 in pains of all-suffering creation, and in sick-beds and 
 death, the Cross is blended with loving-kindness, with 
 gleams of beauty, and consolations, and peaceful hopes ; 
 and the darkness of night brings forth the unspeakable 
 and hidden glories of the heavens that encircle us, and, 
 like love itself, when appearing most dark, embrace and 
 enfold us most distinctly and lovingly. No calm and 
 peace is so exquisite as that which is connected with 
 sickness and affliction ; so that the meanest flower after 
 the sick room is, says the poet, as an “ opening Para- 
 dise : ” For Gethsemane has become to us now in the 
 place of Eden. 
 
 The penitent thief found his bitter agonizing bed of 
 death sweet and consolatory, because it had brought 
 him near to Christ crucified ; and painful martyrdoms 
 and lingering sicknesses have become very tolerable for 
 the same cause. And thus the very thorns which are 
 set about our dwellings are good and for our good, 
 because they were borne on the bleeding Brow of 
 Christ. 
 
 The Passion of our Lord hath in it indeed ail sweet- 
 ness and savour, and all manner of delight. It gives 
 powder to endure sufferings, and virtue to them, and 
 makes them healthful. It is a remedy against tempta- 
 tion, healing for our wounds, strength to obey, power to 
 love, wisdom to discern, deadness to the world, life to 
 God, freedom from the chains of sin, alacrity to run the 
 way to God, forgetfulness of self, love of God. It makes 
 us hate ourselves, and by that hatred and His love 
 makes us new selves whom God loves. It turns heavi- 
 
128 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 ness into joy, and pain into pleasure, and shame into 
 glory. It supports the weakness of penitents, the trust 
 of the despairing, shields against relapses, is the holi- 
 ness of Saints, the everlasting joy 'of all the Redeemed. 
 
 But the first fruit of the Passion of Christ is to 
 cleanse the soul in penitence. It is in gazing on Jesus 
 that we first learn the foulness of our sins, and gain a 
 deep, loving, healthful sorrow ; there that, loving much, 
 we are much forgiven. If thou wouldst learn a loving 
 penitence, if thou wouldst have thy sins forgiven, spread 
 out thy sins there. Then wilt thou love Christ as thy • 
 Redeemer, when thou knowest that He is thine own ; 
 not in a vague way, for the infirmities of our nature, or 
 as one in the general mass of a sinful race, but when 
 thou knowest thine own sins, and from what He who 
 died for thee has redeemed thee. Then wilt thou hate 
 thy sins, when thou knowest what they were, one by 
 one, by which thou addedst to that weight of sorrow 
 which He bore ; that they formed part of that amaze- 
 ment and great heaviness which he endured ; that they 
 sharpened the nails which pierced Him ; they were the 
 thorns which wrung His Brows ; to heal them was His 
 Holy Body torn with stripes ; to cover thy shame did 
 He bear the Cross. He was forsaken of the Father, 
 that thou, who hast so shamefully forsaken Him, 
 mightest still not be ever forsaken of Him, the God of 
 thy salvation. 
 
 Oh ! let us turn, if but for a few moments, to that 
 scene of tumult and sin, but where there is one Form 
 in whom to find rest. He, Who in that mangled 
 Form, rent by the Bloody Stripes through which we 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 129 
 
 were healed, is stretched out upon the Cross, “in 
 Whom there is now no form nor comeliness,” so marred 
 is He more than Man, and His Form more than the 
 sons of men, is our God, “ who for us and for our salva- 
 tion ” became man. Can we gaze on that wide-opened 
 Hand, trickling, (in Scripture words,) with “ the Blood 
 of God;” can we think of the agonizing pain which it 
 sent back to our Saviour’s heart, and this borne for us ; 
 can we contemplate the thorns pressed into His Brow, 
 and His calm Eye resting in love upon His own ; can 
 we behold closely and look upon each suffering of that 
 Divine Form, yet now scarcely human through suffer- 
 ing for us, and shall we not, must we not, feel a fresh 
 tide of love poured out from every part of that frame 
 which is well-nigh one wound, and bruised and sore, 
 as we are ourselves, from head to foot, through sin ? 
 
 Sit thou, then, when thou canst, apart ; and there, 
 by the light of His Cross, unfold the book of conscience ; 
 much once written there is faded from thy sight. He 
 will revive the letters, if thou pray for His light ; in 
 darkness or loneliness much will come back, which is 
 hidden amid the din and glare of the world. Kneeling 
 in thoupfht with Masrdalene at the foot of that awful 
 tree, where He, the All Holy, was made sin for us ; He 
 who was the Life, died, the Innocent was tortured ; the 
 Lord of Glory put to an open shame ; let us in His Sight 
 spread out before Him the number of our sins, their 
 weight and measure. There, in union with His grief 
 and bitter sufferings, let us confess our sins, as He 
 knows them ; and offer, if not a broken and contrite 
 heart, yet one that willeth, longeth, that He would 
 6 * 
 
130 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 break it. Let us say again and again, “ Lord, I would, 
 for love of Thee, grieve that I ever often ded Thee ; 
 would I had never offended Thee ! would I could yet 
 please Thee ! would I could have a burning love for 
 Thee ! and He, Who drew Magdalene to His Cross, 
 Who, amid the blasphemies of the priests, the false 
 witnesses, the buftetings and spittings, turned His meek 
 Countenance upon the disciple who had denied Him.” 
 He, Who softened the heart of the robber who had blas- 
 phemed Him, will, whether we hear His Voice or no, 
 say, “ Thy sins be forgiven thee.” 
 
 For boundless is the treasure of the Passion of 
 Christ ; boundless and overflowing the love of that 
 Almighty Heart, which for us was pierced ; there in 
 that wounded Side may we bury all our sins ; there 
 may we hide ourselves from ourselves. We have opened 
 It anew by our sins, yet It remaineth still ‘‘ the Foun- 
 tain open for sin and for uncleanness ; ” there will He, 
 on true contrition — itself His own gift, — again cleanse 
 us. 
 
 ‘ For thee He suffered, as if there were none beside ; 
 only remember, that if in the Passion is thy forgive- 
 ness, in the thought of the Passion must be thy armour. 
 It must'be a refuge not in, but from thy sins ; a home 
 for thee when wearied in the strife, not a mere cover 
 for thy littleness. 
 
 Be this then thy shield in temptation, so to think 
 of His Passion as also quickly to ask, for His Love’s 
 sake. His help. Who endured it for thee. No sin can 
 long harbour in that breast which so looks to Christ 
 crucified. 
 
T-HE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 131 
 
 Cou!d any be proud, ever gazing on the “ lowly of 
 heart?” or impatient, looking ever to the Lamb of 
 God ? or avaricious, looking to Him who, being rich, 
 for our sakes became poor ? or hard-hearted, beholding 
 Ilis tears ? or indulge in the thought of miserable sin, 
 in chambering and wantonness,” gazing on that Holy 
 foi-m, stretched and racked on the hard couch of the 
 Cross ? or use his hand to violence, or uncleanness, or 
 immodesty, or any other ill, beholding His so meekly 
 stretched to be pierced for our sins ? “ This love,” says 
 
 a holy man, ^‘is contrary to the desires of the flesh. 
 For what can be sweet to him in the flesh, to whom 
 there is such sweetness in the Passion of Christ ? I, 
 brethren, from the beginning of my conversion, in place 
 of a store of merits which I knew was lacking to me, 
 took care to bind together this bundle of myrrh, and to 
 place it between my breasts, gathering it from all the 
 pains and bitter sorrows of my Lord ; first, those endur- 
 ances of His Infancy ; then the toils which He under- 
 went in preaching. His weariness in going to and fro, 
 His watchings in prayer. His temptations in fasting. 
 His tears in compassionating, the snares to catch Him 
 in His words ; lastly. His perils among false brethren, 
 the revilings, spittings, bufletings, jeerings, reproaches, 
 the nails, and the like, which for three- and-thirty years, 
 for the salvation of our race. He did and suflered in the 
 midst of the earth. To meditate on these I said to be 
 wisdom : these upbraid me in adversity, keep me low 
 in prosperity, and amid the joys and sorrows of this 
 present life, guide me safely on either side, as I walk 
 along the royal road, driving back the evils, from which 
 
132 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 quarter soever they gather over me. Wherefore these 
 things are ever on my lips, as ye know ; these are ever 
 in my heart, as God knoweth ; this is my highest 
 philosophy, to know Jesus and Him crucified.” 
 
 May God in His mercy so write by His Spirit on 
 our hearts the Passion of our Redeemer, that It may 
 be seen in our lives, and we follow His steps ! 
 
 He is, even now, graciously looking on us all, not 
 from the Cross, yet as from the Cross, since even in 
 Heaven He deigns in His Glorified Humanity to keep 
 those marks, now beaming with glory as with love, 
 which He received for love of us, the Wounds of His 
 Hands which He received in the house of His friends. 
 
 O strange unutterable love, which counted us friends 
 even while we pierced Him, received Wounds from us 
 as enemies, in order by them to make us friends ! On 
 us He looketh down in love ; may He give us grace to 
 catch His gracious Eye which seeth us, read in it His 
 pitying love, love Him who loved us, and loving, cleave 
 to Him, follow His steps in the narrow path which for 
 us He trode ; that living unto Him, we may die unto 
 Him, and never be severed from Him, “ Who loving His 
 own who were in the world, loved them unto the end.” 
 
 Thou hast said. Lord, “ I shall draw all men unto 
 Me.” Draw us forth then, O Lord, out of all the 
 power of the enemy, and evil desires, or passions, 
 or listlessness, or manifold cares of this life, which hang 
 around us, and clog us, and hold us back Jrom Thee ; 
 draw us up above the mists which surround us here, 
 into Thy pure light. Thou knowest. Lord, that of our- 
 selves we cannot follow Thee ; we are weak, but Thou 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 133 
 
 art strong; we are held down by the body of this 
 death, by the cords of our past sins, by the might of 
 evil habits, but Thou hast died that we might live. Thou 
 wert compassed by the snares of death that we might 
 be freed ; draw us then. Lord, as Thou wilt, in peni- 
 tence unto Thee and Thy Cross, that, bound unto Thee 
 by the cords of Thy Love, we may be freed from all 
 besides, and may follow Thee, held by Thy Hand, and 
 upheld by Thy Grace, may “ run the way of Thy Com- 
 mandments ” when Thou hast set our heart at liberty ; 
 and in this life drawn after Thee by Thy grace, may, 
 through Thy Cross and Passion, attain unto Thee in 
 Thy Eternal Glory. 
 
 Suggestiojis for Self-Examination, Resolutions, (be. 
 
 Think whether 3^011 have ever really understood that our 
 Blessed Lord died for ^"our sins, to save 3^011 individually. 
 
 If 3’ou have never dwelt upon this before, or find 3^our- 
 self unable to realize it, tiy to bring to mind the sinfulness 
 of 3mur life, and the punishment 3^11 have in consequence 
 deserved. Take any one day ; consider not how wicked 3mu 
 /lave been, but how good jo\i ought to have been ; and see 
 how far 3"ou have fallen short of the perfection which a Per- 
 fect God must require. Or reckon up the good 3^11 have 
 done in an3^ one da3", and see how worthless it must appear 
 in the sight of Him who is All Holy. Then Think of any 
 time when 3"ou were living yet more carelessly; consider 
 what all these separate sins must amount to ; and remember 
 that the sins which 3"ou can remember are but the very 
 smallest portion of those which 3^0 have actuall3^ com- 
 mitted. And 3-et God’s Justice sa3'S, “The soul that sinneth, 
 it shall die.” AVhat then would have been 3"our condition, 
 but for His merc3^ ? 
 
 It will be well to practise yourself in these thoughts 
 
134 
 
 READINGS EOR A MONTH. 
 
 often ; and perhaps it may be a help to fix a particular time 
 for such considerations ; every Friday, for instance, for a cer- 
 tain period, — a month or six weeks. But do not be surprised 
 if you are still cold and cannot feel your own sinfulness, and 
 your Saviour’s mercy. Pray earnestly that you may be 
 taught to feel, and remember that we learn to understand 
 our guilt by trying to do our duty. The more you try to 
 please God, the more you will be aware that you have dis- 
 pleased Him. But the feeling then will not be a hard, dry, 
 reasoning acknowledgment, such as it may be now, but an 
 earnest, loving repentance, which will be followed by the 
 ‘‘ peace that passeth understanding.” It is not desirable to 
 tie ourselves down too strictly, however, as regards medita- 
 tion. If we are more inclined to dwell upon our Lord’s love, 
 or His sufferings, then the details of our own sinfulness, it is 
 better to follow the suggestions given us in our own minds, 
 than to force ourselves to a rigid adherence to a rule. 
 
 So again with regard to sympathy with our Saviour’s 
 sufferings. We cannot feel it, because we wish to feel it; 
 but we may put ourselves in the way of feeling it. After 
 you have accustomed yourself to consider your own sinful- 
 ness in the manner described, at certain times, you may 
 make a change in your meditations, by taking some portion 
 of the description of our Lord’s sufferings, and considering it 
 in detail. Take, for instance. His bearing the Cross : think 
 of His weariness from the watchfulness of the night. His 
 weakness after the Scourging, the weight of the Cross He 
 had to bear, the Hill which He was to ascend, the fierce 
 mockings of the multitude who followed Him, the loneliness 
 He must have felt, because His disciples were far off, the 
 bitter remembrance He must have had of St. Peter’s denial; 
 and though you cannot actually /eeZ that all this was borne 
 for you, yet acknowledge it in reason, and pray Him to teach 
 you to feel it. We ai‘e also tauglit to feel for our Lord by 
 trying to feel with Him. There are times when we are told 
 by the Church to deny ourselves our ordinary gratifications. 
 And if we give up any pleasure or comfort, because on that 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 
 
 135 
 
 day He was suffering, however trifling the self-denial may 
 be, it will do more than any words towards teaching us to 
 love Him. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 0 most Merciful Saviour, Who for our sakes didst suffer 
 unspeakable anguish, that Thou mightest purchase for us 
 blessings upon earth, and an eternal inheritance in Heaven, 
 have mercy upon me, sinful and unthankful. Thon, who 
 didst so love us who were Thine enemies, teach me to feel 
 the excellency of Thy Love ; Thou, Who gavest Thyself a 
 sacrifice for our sins, vouchsafe me to know the greatness of 
 my guilt ; Thou, AYho wast tortured for our ease, help me to 
 feel the bitterness of Thy Passion. Heal me, O Lord, by Thy 
 wounds; amend me by Thy grace; quicken me by Thy 
 death ; and grant that I, in this life suffering the Cross of a 
 sad and salutary repentance, in the union and merits of Thy 
 Cross and Passion, may die with Thee, and rest with Thee, 
 and rise again with Thee, and live with Thee for ever, in the 
 possession of Thy glories, 0 Gracious and Merciful Saviour 
 Jesus. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, cfec. 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 “ If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, 
 and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for 
 ever ; even the Spirit of Truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because 
 it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He 
 dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” — St. John xiv. 15 — 17. 
 
 “ I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I 
 go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will 
 send Him unto you.” — St. John xvi. 7. 
 
 “ Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He 
 hath given us of His Spirit.” — 1 John iv. 13. 
 
 “ There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ 
 Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If the Spirit of 
 Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. He that raised up 
 Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit 
 that dwelleth in yon. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know 
 not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh in- 
 tercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that 
 searchetli the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He 
 maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” — Rom. viii. 
 11, 26, 27. 
 
 “ We have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is 
 of God ; that we might know the things which are freely given to us of 
 God.”— 1 CoK. ii. 12. 
 
 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 
 churches.” — Rev. iii. 13. 
 
 “ The Spirit and the bride say. Come. And let him that heareth say. 
 Come. And let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him 
 take of the water of life freely.” — Rev. xxii. 17. 
 
 “ I believe in the Holy Ghost,” (or) the Holy Spirit. 
 This is one of the main Articles of our Creed. 
 
 We believe in the Holy Ghost, who is the third 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 13 7 
 
 Person of the Holy, Undivided, Ever-blessed Trinity, 
 Which we worship, and adore, and admire, but look 
 upon with wonder, and are not in a capacity to under- 
 stand. 
 
 We believe that the Holy Spirit, into whose Name, 
 as of the Father and the Son, we were baptized, is the 
 heavenly Author, the Captain, the Teacher, and the 
 Witness of all the truths of the Gospel : that as the 
 Father sent the Son, so the Son from Heaven sent the 
 Holy Spirit to lead the Church into all truth ; to assist 
 us in all temptations, and to help us in the purchase of 
 all virtue. This Holy Spirit our Blessed Lord hath 
 left with his Church for ever, by which the servants of 
 God are enabled to do all things necessary to salvation, 
 which by the force of nature they cannot do. He it is 
 who enlightens our understandings, sanctifies our will, 
 orders and commands our affections ; He comforts our 
 sorrows, supports our spirits in trouble, and enables us, 
 by promises, and confidences, and gifts, to suffer for the 
 Lord Jesus and the Gospel. This is He Who works 
 miracles, gives the gift of prophecy and of interpreta- 
 tion ; Who teaches us what, and how, to pray ; Who 
 gives us zeal and holy desires ; Who sanctifies children 
 in Baptism, and confirms them with His Grace in Con- 
 firmation ; and reproves the world, and consecrates 
 bishops, and all the ministers of the Gospel; and ab- 
 solves the penitent, and blesses the obedient, and com- 
 forts the sick, and excommunicates the refractory, and 
 makes intercession for the saints, that is, the Church ; 
 and those whom He hath blessed, appointed, and sanc- 
 tified to these purposes, do all these ministries, by His 
 
138 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 authority and His commandment, and His aid. This is 
 He Wlio testifies to our spiidts that we are the sons of 
 God, and makes us to cry, Abba, Father ; ” that is. 
 Who inspires into us such humble confidences of our 
 being accepted in our hearty and constant endeavours 
 to please God, that we can with cheerfulness and joy 
 call God our Father, and expect and hope for the por- 
 tion of sons both here and hereafter ; and in the cer- 
 tainty of this hope, to work out our salvation with fear 
 and reverence, with trembling and_with joy, with dis- 
 trust of ourselves, and mighty confidence in God. 
 
 This Holy Spirit God gives to some more, to some 
 less, according as they are capable. They “ who obey 
 His motions,” and love His Presence, and improve His 
 gifts, shall have Him yet more abundantly : but they 
 that grieve the Holy Spirit, shall lose that which they 
 have ; and they that extinguish Him belong not to 
 Christ, but are in the state of reprobation. 
 
 Every man naturally consists of soul and body ; but 
 every Christian man that belongs to Christ hath more, 
 for he hath body, and soul, and Spirit. As saith St. 
 Paul, “ If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of His.” And by Spirit is not meant only the 
 graces of God and His gifts enabling us to do holy things : 
 there is more belongs to a good man than this. But as 
 when God made man. He made him after His own 
 Image, and breathed into him the spirit of life, and he 
 was made into a living soul ; then he was made a man : 
 and so in the new creation, Christ, ‘‘by whom God 
 made the worlds,” intends to conform us to His Image, 
 and He hath given us the “ Spirit of adoption,” by 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 139 
 
 which we are made sons of God. By the Spirit of a 
 new life we are made new creatures, capable of a new 
 state, enabled to do new and greater actions, in order 
 to higher ends; we have new affections, new under- 
 standings, new wills : all things are become new. 
 
 This great mystery I should not utter but upon the 
 greatest authority in the world, and from an infallible 
 doctor ; I mean St. Paul, who says, “ And the very God 
 of peace sanctify you w'holly ; and I pray God that 
 your whole Spirit, and soul and body, be preserved 
 blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 We are not sanctified wholly, nor preserved in safety, 
 unless, besides our souls and bodies, our Spirit also be 
 kept blameless. By this God’s sheep, at the Day of 
 Judgment, shall be discerned from goats. If their 
 Spirits be presented to God pure and unblamable, — 
 this talent which God hath given to all Christians to 
 improve in the banks of grace and religion, — if they 
 bring this to God increased and grown up to the ful- 
 ness of the measure of Christ (for it is Christ’s Spirit), 
 then we shall be acknowledged for sons, and our adop- 
 tion shall pass into an eternal inheritance in the portion 
 of our Elder Brother. 
 
 I need not to apply this discourse. The very mys- 
 tery itself is in the whole world the greatest engage- 
 ment of our duty that is imaginable, by the way of in- 
 strument, and by the way of thankfulness. 
 
 Every man, said Tertullian, hath within him the 
 Spirit of God, or the spirit of the devil; and every ha- 
 bitual sin doth not only put us into the power of the 
 devil, but turns us into his very nature : just as the 
 
140 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Holy Ghost transforms us into the Image of God. 
 Here, therefore, I have a greater argument to persuade 
 you to holy living, than Moses had to the sons of Israel. 
 ‘‘ Behold, I have set before you life and death, blessing 
 and cursing ; ” so said Moses ; but I add, that I have 
 upon the stock of this Scripture, set before you, the 
 Good Spirit and the bad, God and the devil ; choose 
 unto whose nature you will be likened, and into whose 
 inheritance you will be adopted, and into whose posses- 
 sion you will enter. If you commit sin, ‘‘ you are of 
 your father the devil.” Ye are begot of his principles, 
 and follow his pattern, and shall pass into his portion, 
 when you arc led captive by him at his will ; and re- 
 member what a sad thing it is to go into the portion 
 of evil and accursed spirits, the sad and eternal portion 
 of devils. But he that hath the Spirit of God, doth ac- 
 knowledge God for his Father and his Lord; he de- 
 spises the world, and hath no violent appetites for secu- 
 lar pleasures, and is dead to the desires of this life ; and 
 his hopes are spiritual, and God is his joy, and Christ 
 is his pattern and support, and religion is his employ- 
 ment, and “ godliness ” is his gain : and this man under- 
 stands the things of God, and is ready to die for Christ, 
 and fears nothing but to sin against God ; and his will 
 is filled with love, and it springs out in obedience to 
 God, and in charity to his brother. Of such a man we 
 cannot make judgment by his fortune, or by his ac- 
 quaintance, — the rare excellences that make him happy 
 do not yet make him illustrious, — unless he will reckon 
 virtue to be a great fortune, and holiness to be great 
 wisdom, and .God to be the best Friend, and Christ the 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 141 
 
 best Relative, and tlie Spirit the highest advantage, and 
 Heaven the greatest reward. But he that knows how 
 to value tliese things, may sit down and reckon the feli- 
 cities of him that hath the Spirit of God. 
 
 A man that hath tasted of God’s Spirit can instantly 
 discern the madness that is in rage, the folly and dis- 
 ease that are in envy, the dishonour that is in breaking 
 our faith and telling a lie,- and understands things truly 
 as they are ; that is, that charity is the greatest noble- 
 ness in the world ; that religion hath in it the greatest 
 pleasures ; that temperance is the best security of 
 health ; that humility is the surest way to honour. 
 And all these relishes are nothing but antepasts of 
 heaven, where the quintessence of all these pleasures 
 shall be swallowed for ever ; where the chaste shall 
 follow the Lamb ; and the zealous converters of souls, and 
 labourers in God’s vineyard, shall worship eternally ; 
 where St. Peter and St. Paul do wear their crowns of 
 righteousness ; and the patient persons shall be rewarded 
 with joy, and the meek persons with Christ and Moses, 
 and all with God. 
 
 Moreover the Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities ; 
 for “we know not what we should pray for as we 
 ought.” He hath from all sad accidents drawn the veil 
 of error and the cloud of intolerableness, and taught us 
 that our happiness cannot consist in freedom or deliver- 
 ance from persecutions, but in patience, resignation, and 
 noble sufierance ; and that we are not then so blessed 
 when God hath turned our scourges into ease and deli- 
 cacy, as when we convert our very scorpions into the 
 exercise of virtues ; so that now, the Spirit having com- 
 
142 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 forted our weaknesses and afflictions, our sorrows and im- 
 patience, by this proposition, that “ All things work to- 
 gether for the good of them that fear God,” He hath taught 
 us to pray for grace, for patience under the Cross, for 
 charity to our persecutors, for rejoicing in tribulation, 
 for perseverance and boldness in the faith, and for what- 
 soever will bring us safely to heaven. 
 
 The Spirit of God hath also made our services to be 
 spiritual, the consequence of a spiritual sacrifice, and of 
 a holy union with God; and then it is that He maketh 
 intercession for us. We speak His sense, we live His 
 life, we breathe His accents, we desire in order to His 
 purposes, and our persons are gracious by His Holiness, 
 and are accepted by His intercession. The Spirit more- 
 over gives us great relish and appetite to our prayers ; 
 and this St. Paul calls “ serving of God in His Spirit,” that 
 is, with a willing mind; not as Jonas did his errand, 
 but as Christ did die for us : He was straitened till 
 He had accomplished it : and he that delighteth in 
 his prayers, not by pleasure only, but whose choice 
 dwells in his prayers, and whose conversation is with 
 God in holy living, and praying accordingly, that man 
 hath the Spirit of Christ, and therefore belongs to 
 Christ. 
 
 Lastly, the Spirit of God is given to all who belong 
 to Christ, as an antidote against sorrows, against im- 
 patience, against the evil accidents of the world, and 
 against the opj^ression and sinking of our spirits under 
 the cross. 
 
 Till the Spirit of God fills us with all joy and peace 
 in believing, we have little faith, and as little patience ; 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 143 
 
 we fall at every stumbliDg-block, and sink under every 
 temptation ; and our hearts fail us, and we die for fear 
 of death, and lose our souls to preserve our estates or 
 our persons. But the man that is in a great joy cares 
 not for any trouble that is less than his joy ; and the 
 hope of life eternal can never fail us, and the joy of 
 that is great enough to make us suffer anything or do 
 anything. 
 
 To death, to bands, to poverty, to banishment, to 
 tribunals, any whither in hope of life eternal ! As long 
 as this anchor holds, we may suffer a storm, but cannot 
 suffer shipwreck. 
 
 And I desire you by the way to observe how good a 
 God we serve, and how excellent a religion Christ 
 taught, when one of His great precepts is, that v/e 
 should rejoice and be exceeding glad : and God hath 
 given us the spirit of rejoicing, not a sullen melancholy 
 spirit, not the spirit of bondage or of a slave, but the 
 Spirit of His Son, consigning us by a holy conscience 
 to “joys unspeakable and full of glory.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination. 
 
 We have all received the gift of the Holy Spirit at our 
 Baptism; the question now to be considered is, whether His 
 Presence is day by day vouclisafed to us more and more ; or 
 whether, by grieving Him, we are losing It. This is not a 
 question of feeling but of fact. 
 
 Think, therefore, whethei*, at the present time, you are 
 going on in a listless, indifferent manner; not, perhaps, doing 
 anything very wrong, but not trying to be particularly 
 good. This lukewarm temper, the Bible says, God especially 
 hates. 
 
 Think whether there are any little temptations to which 
 
144 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 you habitually give way ; such as lying in bed too long, 
 wasting time in idle reading or idle conversation, indulging 
 yourself in eating things which are not good for you, being 
 indolent, untidy, procrastinating, disobedient to the little 
 wishes of your parents. These thing do not indeed, we may 
 hope, “quench the Spirit,” but they certainly “grieve” Him. 
 
 Think whether, when you ask for the aid of the Holy 
 Spirit, you do so as a matter of course, because you have 
 been told to do so, or whether you really do wish for help, 
 and hope to obtain it. 
 
 Inquire as to your devotions generally, not whether you 
 feel more pleasure in your prayers, but whether you are 
 more afraid of neglecting them than you used to be ; whether 
 you are more earnest in striving against inattention ; whether 
 you are more careful to prepare yourself for the public ser- 
 vices of the Church, and to keep your eyes from wandering; 
 whether, when you read the Bible, you make a real effort to 
 bear in mind whose Book it is. Or if, as may possibly be the 
 case, you are not able to compare one time with another, so 
 as to decide whether you are improving, ask yourself if you 
 are going back in any way. This may be discovered by re- 
 membering whether you have lately yielded often to any spe- 
 cial temptation. 
 
 Do not think it necessary to be making this inquiry per- 
 petually. It may perhaps be sufficient to do so when you 
 'are about to receive the Holy Communion. At other times, 
 if the thought cross your mind, whether or not you are ad- 
 vancing in goodness, you will find an earnest resolution, and 
 a short, fervent prayer for help, better than a perpetual ex- 
 amination into your motives and actions. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, (fee. 
 
 O Eternal Lord, God of the Spirits of all flesh, who didst 
 send Thy Holy Spirit upon Thy Church in the day of Pente- 
 cost, and hast promised that He shall abide with the 
 
GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 145 
 
 Cliiircli for ever, let that Blessed Spirit, I beseech Thee, 
 lead me into all truth, defend me from all sin, enrich me with 
 Ilis gifts, refresh me with Ilis comforts, and lead me in the 
 way everlasting; that I, living by Thy Spirit, and walking 
 in Him, may by Him be sealed up to the day of Redemp- 
 tion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reign- 
 eth with Thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
 1 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 
 
 “ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy 
 of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, 
 with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love ; endeavouring to keep 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one 
 Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one 
 Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and 
 through all, and in you all.”— Eph. iv. 1—6. 
 
 “ And He gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets.* and some, evange- 
 lists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for 
 the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ : till we all 
 come in the unity of the fait h, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
 unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ : 
 that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried 
 about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning 
 craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth 
 in love, may grow up unto Him in all things, which is the Head, even 
 Christ; from which the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted 
 by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in 
 the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of 
 itself in love.” — Eph. iv. 11—16. 
 
 In the Epistle written by St. Paul to Timothy, 
 Bishop of Ephesus, we find the following words : “ that 
 thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself 
 in the House of God, which is the Church of the Living 
 God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 
 
 The Church of God which is here spoken of cannot 
 mean the mere building, because that cannot in any 
 way be said, to be the pillar and ground of the truth ; 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHUUCH. 147 
 
 but rather it is what in the Apostles’ Creed is called the 
 Holy Catholic Church, the same of which our Blessed 
 Lord spoke when He said to St, Peter: “and I say 
 unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
 build My Church ; and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against it.” 
 
 St. Paul in like manner describes it as built upon 
 the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus 
 Christ Himself being the chief corner stone ; and there- 
 fore it is called in the Nicene Creed, the “one Catholic 
 and Apostolic Church,” being the same as the Apostles 
 founded and established ; the same in all parts of the 
 world, with Bishops, Priests, and Deacons to govern 
 and direct it; with Sacraments to give it life, and to 
 support it in life ; and with a Creed materially the 
 same in every Church, from the beginning down to the 
 present time, in all parts of the world. 
 
 For it is remarkable, that in all the early churches 
 throughout the world, which were founded by the 
 Apostles themselves, things were found to be very much 
 alike ; they had all the same Creed, the same Sacra- 
 ments ; all were governed by Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons. There were many Churches ; as we read in 
 the Revelation, of the Seven Churches — the Church of 
 Ephesus, the Church of Thyatira, and the like — that is, 
 a Church in each different place or country ; — but then 
 these were all alike ; each had its Bishops, its Priests, 
 and its Deacons: so that, in one sense, they were all in 
 a manner one ; all had the same belief, doctrine, and 
 discipline; all made up the One Holy Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church ; all were like parts of one Body, of 
 which Christ was the Head. 
 
148 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 This then is the Church, or the Catholic Church, or 
 the Universal Church ; for it is all one. It is the same 
 of which the Prayer Book speaks. Thus we say, 
 “ More especially we pray for the good estate of the 
 Catholic Church, that it may be guided and governed 
 by Thy Good Spirit ; ” and in the Litany, we pray God 
 that it may please Him to rule and govern His Holy 
 Church Universal in the right way ; and in the col- 
 lects of the day we often pray for the Church. 
 
 And surely we may humbly hope and trust that we 
 belong to that Holy Catholic Church which the Apos- 
 tles’ Creed speaks of, for what had the early Christians 
 which we have not? The}^ had the Bible, so have we; 
 they had the Apostles’ Creed, so have we ; they had 
 Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, so have we. We have, 
 indeed, most likely the same prayers that they had, for 
 many of our prayers can be proved to be nearly as old 
 as the Christian religion, in the Churches which the 
 Apostles founded. 
 
 The sun is but one and the same for many hundred 
 years; and yet it shines for each one of us as much as 
 if it was shining for no one else in the world. So is 
 the Catholic Church. Do we receive Holy Baptism, 
 Confirmation, the Supper of the Lord, as the first 
 Christians did ? From whom have we received these 
 things? From the Catholic Church. If the Church 
 was not in this country, we should have obtained none 
 of these. 
 
 But the Church is not only Catholic, it is also Holy. 
 It is the Holy Catholic Church. This does not mean 
 that all persons belonging to it will be what they ought 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 149 
 
 to be in this world. But it is Holy because the Holy 
 Spirit dwells within it; and because, although its mem- 
 bers are not all holy, yet they have all been once made 
 holy at Baptism, being made children of God. It is, 
 moreover, holy because Christ will come again, and 
 drive out of His Church all things that ofiend, and 
 those that do iniquity, at the Last Hay, with the rod of 
 eternal destruction : ‘‘ That He might present it to 
 Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, 
 or any such thing; but that it should be holy and 
 without blemish.” 
 
 Then shall the elect of God be made holy, never 
 again to fall away, with no possibility of sinning any 
 more. Then shall they be united to God and Christ 
 without any fear of divisions ; for all is there blessed 
 harmony, and love, and peace. 
 
 I beheld,” says St. John in the Revelation ; ‘‘ and 
 lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of 
 all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
 stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
 with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Surely 
 we cannot hope to be of that blessed number in heaven, 
 unless we labour to be of the same here on earth, unless 
 we strive to be of the Holy Catholic Church, and do 
 all we can to keep to that doctrine which Christ and 
 His Apostles have appointed. “ Pray for the peace^ of 
 Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.” ‘‘Peace 
 be within thy walls.” This must be the wish of every 
 good man. The peace of the Church of God must be 
 the thing most dear to his heart ; yet men talk in these 
 days of the Church as if it was a subject in which they 
 
150 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 felt no great interest or concern ; and others, alarmed , 
 at the manifold diversions which abound, say : Can I 
 this be the true Church of God, which is torn asunder 
 into so many parties and sects, and broken to pieces ? 
 
 It is, indeed, to union and unanimity that God has 
 promised His blessing, for He is a God of unity ; but I 
 He will not grant this unity unless men live holier 
 lives than they do. Doubtless, the want of holiness is ■ 
 the reason of the numberless religious divisions into 
 which this country is torn ; and in no way can unity 
 be restored, except by people becoming better, — living 
 more self-denying, humble, charitable lives. 
 
 We profess to believe in the Communion of Saints, 
 to believe that we are of one Spirit and of one body 
 with the saints of old. But if we did truly and prac- 
 tically believe this doctrine, how could we ever bear to 
 live in a manner so contrary to what they did ? They 
 gave up all for religion ; now, all orders of men labour 
 to gain and keep all they can : they fasted much, and 
 laboured much, and prayed much, and after all they did 
 not venture to think that they had attained ; noAV, men 
 neither fast, nor labour, nor pray, and yet think them- 
 selves secure of salvation: they rose at midnight, to 
 pray and sing praises to God ; now, few indeed, it is to 
 be feared, rise early to pray : they sold all that they 
 had to give to God’s Church and His poor ; now, even 
 the tithe which the Jew gave is thought an intolerable 
 burden: they, receiving the word in an honest and 
 good heart, brought forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, 
 some an hundredfold; we think it a great matter to 
 receive the> Word at all, though we bring forth no fruit. 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 151 
 
 How, then, can we expect to be one with each other 
 now, or to be united in the end with them ? 
 
 Let ns be assured that the more intimate our com- 
 munion is witli Grod, the more we shall be knit together 
 in the fellowship of His Church, and the Communion 
 of Saints. 
 
 To use the words of a good Bishop of our Church, 
 “ Let us go to the truth itself, to Christ, and He will 
 tell us an easy way of ending all our quarrels. Christ’s 
 way of finding out of truth, is by doing the will of God. 
 So long as we know God only in the ways of man, by 
 contentious learning, by arguing and .dispute, we see 
 nothing but the shadow of Him, and in that shadow 
 we meet with many dark appearances, little certainty 
 and much conjecture : but when we know Him with 
 the eye of holiness, and the intuition of gracious expe- 
 rience, then we shall hear what we never heard, and 
 see what our eyes never saw ; then the mysteries of 
 godliness shall be opened to us, and clear as the win- 
 dows of the morning.” 
 
 “ What learning is it to discourse of the philosophy 
 of the Sacrament, if you do not feel the virtue of it? 
 The man that can with eloquence and subtilty discourse 
 of the instrumental efiicacy of baptismal waters, talks 
 ignorantly in respect of him who hath ‘the answer of 
 a good conscience’ within, and is cleansed by the puri- 
 fications of the Spirit. How can a wicked man under- 
 stand the purities of the heart ? and how can an evil 
 and unworthy Communicant tell what it is to have 
 received Christ by faith, to dwell with Him, to be 
 united to Him, to receive Him in his heart ? The good 
 
152 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 man only understands that: the one sees the colour; 
 and the other feels the substance; the one discourses of 
 the Sacrament, the other receives Christ. He that is 
 truly refornied himself, he knows what pleases God, 
 and can best tell by what instruments He is reconciled. 
 He cannot be cozened by names of things ; himself is 
 humble and obedient, and therefore knows that it is 
 not ti’uth that persuades to schism and disobedience. 
 That which best pleases God, that which does good to 
 our neighbour, that which teaches sobriety, that which 
 combines with government, that which speaks honour of 
 God, and does Him honour, that only is truth. No man 
 that intends to live holily can ever suffer any pretence 
 of religion to be made to teach him to fight against his 
 King. “And that is no good religion whose principles 
 destroy any duty of religion.” 
 
 “ Anything that is proud, anything that is peevish 
 and scornful, anything that is uncharitable, is against 
 that form of sound doctrine which the Apostle St. Paul 
 speaks of.” 
 
 “ If the Holy Spirit can teach us how vain a thing 
 it is to do foolish things. He will also teach us how 
 vain a thing it is to trouble the world with foolish 
 questions in things indifferent, and to make religion to 
 consist in outsides and opposition to trifles. It is but 
 an ill sign of holiness when a man is busy in troubling 
 himself and his superior in little scruples and fantastic 
 opinions about things not concerning the life of religion, 
 or the pleasure of God, or the excellence of the Spirit. 
 
 “I am not ashamed,” he adds in another place, “ to 
 say that I am weary and toiled with rowing up and 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 153 
 
 down in the seas of questions which the interests of 
 Christendom have commenced. In many, I am not 
 certain that I am not deceived ; but I am most certain 
 tliat by living in the religion and fear of ^God, in obe- 
 dience to the King, in tlie charities and duties of com- 
 munion with my spiritual guides, in justice and love 
 with all the world, I shall not fail of that end which is 
 the perfection of human nature, and which will never 
 be obtained by disputing. When men have tried all 
 that they can, it is supposed they will return to the 
 excellency and advantage of the Christian religion, as 
 it is taught by the Church of England ; for by destroy- 
 ing it, no end can be served but of sin and folly, faction 
 and death eternal.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination. 
 
 Think whether you have ever made it an especial subject 
 of thankfulness to Almighty God, that you have been made a 
 Member of the Catholic Church ; and whether it ever enters 
 ^mur mind that at the Day of Judgment, when your privi- 
 leges will be recalled, this wdll assuredly be brought forth 
 against you, if you have not lived worthily, according to 
 your great advantages. 
 
 Consider whether you are apt to murmur, because, in the 
 English branch of the Catholic Church, to which you belong, 
 everything is not ordered exactly as may seem to you best. 
 The least yielding to this fault may lead you into most griev- 
 ous error. As long as you have the Bible and the Prayer 
 Book, you have all that is needed to show you the way of 
 salvation ; and other matters must be left to those whose 
 duty it is to decide upon them. If they decide wrongly, the 
 sin is theirs, not yours. You cannot err in submitting to 
 authority, but you certainly will err fatally in giving way 
 to a captious criticising spirit. 
 
 1 * 
 
154 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH 
 
 Consider whether you live strict!}^ according to the rules 
 of the Church; whether you attend the services devoutly 
 and constantly; wliether you try to bear in mind, and ob- 
 serve as best you may, the Festivals and Fasts; whether, in 
 your daily lif% you are as humble, obedient, and self-deny- 
 ing as a member of the English Church ought to be. 
 
 Think wliether you like argument and controversy; if 
 you do, they are dangerous for you, and though you may be 
 perfectly right in what you say, you will be unquestionably 
 wrong in what you do. 
 
 Consider whether, when you meet with persons who 
 differ from you, or hear them spoken of, your first wish is to 
 find out all the points in which they are wrong, or all in 
 which they are right. We deceive ourselves continually 
 when arguing upon religious subjects, and, indeed, upon all 
 subjects; what we really wish is to conquer, not to agree; 
 and as long as this is our object, disputes will be endless. 
 
 If your disposition is yielding, your temptations will be 
 of an opposite character. Consider, then, whether you can 
 firmly do what you know to be right,, thougli you may not 
 choose to argue about it ; but remember that the proof of this 
 firmness is to be given with your equals, or your inferiors, 
 not those set in authority over yon, unless tliey command 
 sometiiing absolutely forbidden by the Word of God. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord God, who art always mindful of Thy Covenant 
 and promise to a thousand generations, I bless Thee for Thy 
 mercies to me and to all Christian people, whom Thou hast 
 delivered from the bondage of sins, and preserved in the Ark 
 of Tliy Church, that they perish not in the waves of this 
 troublesome world. Continue to us, O Lord, Thy great good- 
 ness; and be pleased so to order the affairs and accidents of 
 this life, that all things moy work for the advancement of 
 Thy holy religion. Grant that my love to Thee may render 
 me obedient to those whom Thou hast set in authority in the 
 
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 155 
 
 Church ; let me never despise their persons, nor refuse their 
 injunctions, nor choose mine own work ; but make me, in all 
 instances, meek and forbearing under contradiction, patient 
 and longsuffering with those whom I feel to be in error, 
 seeking Thy Peace and the furtherance of Thy (ilory, through 
 obedience to Him, who is the Prince of all Peace, Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
THE DAY OF' JUDGMENT, 
 
 “ I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did 
 sit, Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the 
 pure wool ; His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning 
 fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him : thousand 
 thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand 
 stood before Him : the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” — 
 Daniel vii. 9, 10. 
 
 “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose 
 face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for 
 them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the 
 books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of 
 life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in 
 the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which 
 were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : 
 and they were judged every man according to their works. And death 
 and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And 
 whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake 
 of fire.”— Rev. xx. 11 — 15. 
 
 Wherever one opens Holy Scripture, it is full of 
 awful warnings; to which it is, of course, of much mo- 
 ment to us to take heed. They will not cease to be 
 there, and to have their terrible meaning, although we 
 turn away from them ; nor does our looking at them 
 make us more in danger of them : on the contrary, he 
 alone is in danger of them, who drives the thought 
 thereof from him ; he alone is safe, who sets- them be- 
 fore him. For they are truths, — the words of Him 
 Who cannot lie, Who points them out that we may 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 15 ? 
 
 escape them, Who will uphold us through them if we 
 lean on Him, and Who alone can uphold or save us. 
 
 One “Day” especially is spoken of as an object of 
 awe and terror ; the “ Day of the Lord,” the Day of 
 Judgment, — a day, the most fearful which created 
 being can meet; more awful*in its approach, more fear- 
 ful to think of, than the day of death. We naturally 
 shrink from the day of our death, from yielding up our 
 spirits, from our bodies being dissolved ; but this is in 
 comparison nothing. It is indeed the end of our trial, 
 and so is very awful ; it makes all sure one way or the 
 other ; it fixes us : but men can approach it often with- 
 out terror, even from very stupidity and dulness. They 
 deceive themselves; they have never thought of them- 
 selves or of the state of their souls, how should they at 
 once know all they have to fear. They do not yet see 
 God. But to what end is this? There remaineth yet 
 another day, more fearful yet than the hour of death ; 
 the Day of Judgment. Then they cannot deceive 
 themselves ; the books will be opened, and their names 
 must be in the book of life or not ; they must be taken 
 or they must be left; their Judge must say to them 
 “ Come, ye blessed of my Father,” or He must say 
 “ Depart, ye cursed ;” must set them on His right hand 
 or His left. 
 
 What use then will it be, what we have persuaded 
 ourselves in this life, what, to have counted that all will 
 be well with us, to the very hour of death, when, after 
 death, there is yet the Judgment. 
 
 But who are they whose names are in the book of 
 life ? According to what shall we be judged ? Who 
 shall be saved ? 
 
158 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 “ I saw the dead,” says the beloved Disciple, “small 
 and great, stand before God ; and the books were 
 opened ; and another book was opened, which is the 
 book of life, and the dead were judged out of those 
 things which were written in the books, according to 
 their works.” 
 
 But what works ? and what are meant by works ? 
 Everything wherein we have a choice one way or other. 
 Thoughts, words, as well as outward actions, are among 
 these works. 
 
 Our thoughts are works : “ Yea, in your hearts ye 
 work iniquities,” says the Psalmist. And yet, how 
 much of our life is passed in thoughts ! how they crowd 
 each other, throng one upon another, come unbidden, 
 leave no trace, and yet defile! “Out of the heart,” 
 says our Blessed Saviour, “come evil thoughts — and 
 these (as well as evil works) defile the man I ” How 
 quick they come, so that the mind half or wholly 
 assents to them, and so sins, even if the man speedily 
 recover 1 How quickly, for instance (as each one’s be- 
 setting sin may be), will thoughts of anger, covetous- 
 ness, vanity, lust, greediness, malice, hatred, suspicion, 
 ill-will, or worldliness, come into a man’s heart, and be 
 lodged there, and inwardly acted upon, while he, from 
 very habit, is scarcely aware of it. How often will one, 
 even after he has broken off a sin, have a momentary 
 pleasure in the recollection of its enjoyment, even 
 though he shake it oft’ again 1 How will he even im- 
 agine the pleasure of a sin from which he w(is saved 1 
 how will a thought of vanity express itself in the coun- 
 tenance or the gesture, though the speech give no utter- 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT* 
 
 159 
 
 auce to it; liow will it colour other actions; how will 
 such thoughts do their work, and then vanish unper- 
 ceived ; how, even in the house of prayer, will strange 
 thoughts steal away our prayers ! “ Who can say, I 
 
 have made my heart clean ?” And ’if saints have so 
 spoken, what must be the case of common Christians ! 
 How, for instance, will worldly thoughts beset a person 
 during his whole employment; and yet these are idol- 
 atry 1 how, on the news of another’s well-doing, will 
 envious thoughts be the first to enter a person’s mind ; 
 and yet envy is the especial sin of the Evil one ! and 
 “ where envying and strife is, there,” says the Apostle, 
 is confusion and every evil workP Any one who has 
 by God’s mercy been awakened to watch his besetting 
 sin, will be scared to see how often thoughts connected 
 with that sin are more or less received into his mind. 
 And, O my God, if these things are to be given account 
 of, how much besides, how many more thoughts, — • 
 which we do not check, — which we have indulged, — 
 which we have sought after, and which yet were sin ! 
 And yet it is one especial part of the Day of Judgment 
 “ to judge the secrets of men,^’ to bring to light the hid- 
 den things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels 
 of the heart. 
 
 Then also words are “ works ;” they are among 
 the works for which a man shall be acquitted or con- 
 demned. 
 
 I say unto you,” says our Blessed Lord, “ that every 
 idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
 thereof in the Day of Judgment ; for by thy words 
 shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shait thou be 
 condemned.” 
 
160 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Of many sins, of many damnable sins, the tongue 
 is the natural and chief instrument ; therewith men 
 persuade others to sin, or lessen their dread of it, dr 
 cheer them on in it ; therewith they blaspheme God, 
 and take His Holy Name in vain ; yet such, God saith — 
 the more awfully, because He expresseth not what the 
 judgment will be, — He will not hold guiltless ; there- 
 with men lie one to another, yet “ liars,” God saith, 
 “ shall have their portion in the lake of fire ; ” there- 
 with men slander, backbite, speak evil of one another ; 
 therewith they cheat and defraud each other ; therewith 
 how many works of the flesh are wrought ; unclean- 
 ness, lasciviousness, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, 
 strife, maliciousness, debate, deceit, malignity, whisper- 
 ings, despitefulness, pride, boastings, undutifulness to 
 parents, whereof God saith, “ the judgment of God is, 
 that they who commit such things are worthy of death, 
 that they who do such things shall not inherit the King- 
 dom of God.” And yet not the very bad only thus sin 
 with the tongue. If any man offend not in word, 
 says St. James, “ the same is a perfect man ; ” and since 
 we are so far from perfect, ’what must bur offences be ? 
 and are not the sins of the tongue sins of the heart also, 
 for “ out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak- 
 eth?” 
 
 Again, if such are the evil works of the tongue and 
 of the thoughts, whereof men must give account, 
 how many must those be of the whole body ; all deeds 
 of violence, of wrath, uncleanness, gluttony, drunken- 
 ness, re veilings, thefts, sabbath-breakings, petty acts 
 of dishonesty as men speak, spiteful ness, unmerci- 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 161 
 
 fulness, unforgiveness : and these again are sins of the 
 heart also ; they liave been sinned oftentimes in heart 
 before they are sinned in act ; for we may not look 
 upon the sins of the heart or our sinful thoughts 
 only as leading to the open sin ; they are themselves 
 sins ; they were by themselves worthy God’s wrath and 
 damnation. 
 
 Let a person trace the course of any one sin ; he will 
 liave had much doubt probably before he first gave 
 way to it ; and even after he had begun to give way, 
 he will have had much doubt before he fell into the 
 act of sin; and even after his first fall he will have had 
 some struggle with himself before he altogether gave 
 way ; and even after it grew into a habit, he will have 
 had visitings of compunction, and secret calls to abandon 
 it ; and each of these feelings of doubt, or misgiving, or 
 remorse, or fear, was the work of God’s Holy Spirit 
 within him ; and if he gave way (i. e. gave way to Sa- 
 tan), he will have to give account for having so many 
 several times done despite to God’s Holy Spirit, and 
 grieved Him. And this is but one sin. And how 
 many sorts of sin are joined together with one sin ! 
 This is but one sin, and if one attempts to think of all, 
 “ the whole head becometh sick, and the whole heart 
 faint.” 
 
 Such are some of the kind of actions by which men 
 are to be judged ; and what or how many of them are 
 to be brought into judgment ? All^ none excepted ; all, 
 of every sort. God shall bring every work to judgment. 
 Every evil work which every man hath done will be 
 showed openly before God, and the Holy Angels and the 
 
162 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 whole world, — every one ; things hidden and things 
 known ; things which none saw save the sinner, as well 
 as things seen of man ; the sins of boyhood and youth, as 
 well as the sins of manhood and age ; sins which passed 
 fi*om our thoughts as soon as sinned, or which we scarcely 
 thought to be sins, as well as those we remember ; sins 
 repented of, and sins un repented; every sin, from the 
 disobedience of the child to murder or hatred of God ; 
 every murmur of discontent, every thought of vanity, 
 “ every idle word,” every angry look, every unclean 
 thought ; everything which man has ever thought, or 
 said, or done ; or not done, not said, not thought, as he 
 ought ; all his neglect of or carelessness in prayer, all his 
 unthankfulness to God, shall be brought into judgment. 
 Think how much takes place in the hours of any one day ; 
 how many thoughts we have ; how many words we 
 speak ; how many acts we do : think what there would be 
 in the hours of many days many hundreds and thousands 
 of days : that were a very short life which had not thou- 
 sands of days; and yet each day of those several thousand 
 days, since thou first knewest good and evil, throughout 
 all its several hours, has its own account to give to God. 
 
 Again, who are they who are to be judged for all 
 their actions ? All : “We shall a/^,” says the Apostle, 
 “ stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” The high- 
 est saint shall be there ; there shall St. Paul be, and 
 give account of his “ labours more abundant ” for the 
 sake of Him who is his Saviour and His tTudge, and of 
 his sharp contention with Barnabas ; there St. Peter, of 
 his faithful feeding of His Redeemer’s sheep, and of that 
 which he did, which “ was to be blamed ” at Antioch ; 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 163 
 
 there shall all the Martyrs, Confessors, and saints of old 
 time be, shaming ns that we have not come up to them ; 
 there shall we all one by one be giving account of all 
 the talents we have each received, all the help we have 
 each had from God, all the good things which by His 
 Strength we have done, which He has wrought in us, 
 and wherein we have (amazing words !) wrought togeth- 
 er with God ; all wherein, loving our Blessed Redeemer, 
 we have kept His Commandments : but also all where- 
 in we have grieved God’s Holy Spirit, and neglected 
 His warnings, and put aside His help, and done against 
 His commands. 
 
 He, who “ numbereththe hairs of” all “ our heads,” 
 for Him it is a light thing to note all the actions of our 
 lives. With Him there is no past or future, and He 
 may make all our sins at once present to us, as they 
 are to Him. As an earnest thereof, even in this life, 
 God sometimes brings before a man, in one moment of 
 agony, a large portion of life ; brings up things long for- 
 gotten, and he sees in a moment a world of ill done by 
 himself. He sees himself in all the ill which he has 
 done. 
 
 The doctrine thus briefly stated, was a chief means 
 by which holy men of old attained their excellence. It 
 gives to all our separate actions a value beyond what 
 we can think. Be it then ever before us. Be our first 
 thought, morning by morning, to think of the morning 
 of Resurrection ; be our last, night by night, the sleep 
 of death, after which cometh the Judgment. Be we 
 all more watchful, what for the future shall be written 
 in those books which shall be opened on that day, and 
 
164 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 from which our sentence shall be read. Let the young, 
 of whom as yet little comparatively has there been writ- 
 ten, especially be heedful what shall be there written ; 
 their pages are not yet filled up ; let them keep them- 
 selves diligently through God’s holy keeping, that not 
 evil but good may be written of them there. Doubtless, 
 among the matters which are more particularly record- 
 ed in that fearful Book of account, are the vows which 
 we make from time to time, either in general to serve 
 the Lord, or to discharge our duty in any particular call- 
 ing or station. No question but our baptismal vows 
 are there, as well as the manner in which we have kept 
 them. No doubt, that the same leaves contain our repe- 
 tition and renewal of those our first vows, whether in 
 Confirmation or in the Holy Communion. When young 
 persons come before the Bishop to receive Chiist’s bless- 
 ing through him, and are asked, “Do you here, in the 
 presence of God, and of this congregation, renew the 
 solemn promise and vow that was made in your name 
 at your Baptism ? ” and when they shall answer as the 
 Church bids them, “ I do,” no question but that this 
 their answer is heard in heaven, is set down there, is 
 registered either against or for them, will be remem- 
 bered then, will appear and be recited on their trial in 
 the Great Day. 
 
 The doctrine is full of comfort, though full of awe. 
 We have been made members of Christ; by His pre- 
 vailing Intercession, we are retained such. By that In- 
 tercession, He, the Sacrifice and Higli Priest, pleadeth 
 His own Sacrifice for our sins ; He appeareth as our 
 Advocate with, the Father, and presenteth also our 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 165 
 
 broken prayers and interrupted longings, our dried-up 
 fountains of tears, our half-penitent penitence, our defect- 
 ive victoi’ies, our scari’cd strifes with sin, cleansed and 
 purified by Ills precious Blood. 
 
 In Him we have, though a just, yet still a merciful 
 Judge, who hath compassion upon our weakness, and is 
 touched with the feeling for those infirmities, “ which 
 He bare for us upon the Cross.” Not a single sigh for 
 past sins escapes His ears ;* not a groan of the heart but 
 is heard by Him ; not a tear falls to the ground but He 
 putteth it in His bottle ; not a breathing of the soul 
 after His Holiness ; not a loathing of our own unholi- 
 ness ; not an act of self-abasement, or humbling our- 
 selves for sin ; not a yearning of the soul for a purity 
 which it hath not, if it be but followed by action ; not 
 an act of mercy, done in hopes that we may obtain mer- 
 cy ; not an act of self-denial in token of our displeasure 
 and self-condemnation at our offences, but we shall find 
 there ; every fragment of our poor sorrow and service ; 
 we shall find there gathered and stored up, and nothing 
 lost. 
 
 He who gave us our godly sorrow, will then ac- 
 knowledge it; He who gave thee thy humility, will 
 then exalt thee ; He who gave thee the mind to give to 
 His poor members, whether it be the cup of cold wa- 
 ter, or the two mites if they be all thou hast, or to 
 give abundantly out of abundance. He will own them 
 as done unto Himself. He will once more blot out, 
 and for ever, the handwriting against us, that, our sins 
 and iniquities be remembered no more ; and our Judge 
 whom we have besought to help us, and in Whose 
 
166 
 
 EEADINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Name we sought forgiveness, will acknowledge us, 
 and say to us, not merely “ Go in peace ; thy sins be 
 forgiven thee,” but “ Thy sins be forgiven thee ; enter 
 thou into the Joy of thy Lord.” Let us not shrink 
 then, although, as we bring our works near to the light 
 of that Lay, we see that we must part with this self 
 indulgence, or sloth, or quickness of temper, or that 
 cherished way of acting, which has wound close round 
 us, self-esteem, or love of the praise of man, or even 
 longing for human sympathy ; nor having chosen or 
 wishing to choose the better part, think that it will be 
 long and wearisome to do without this or that ; let not 
 Satan turn or hold thee back, by telling thee thou canst 
 never hold on so long without this or that. He who 
 brought us to the morning, will bring us to the even- 
 ing ; He who bringeth us to the evening will bring us 
 on to the morrow ; He who began a good work in thee 
 will perform it unto the end. Where should there be 
 any space between the beginning and the end wherein 
 He should fail thee, who is thy First Beginning and 
 thy Last End. 
 
 Look on to that day when He Whom ye would 
 love shall say, “ Well done^ good and faithful servant.” 
 In due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not. Brief as 
 are the joys of this world, briefer yet are its afflictions 
 and its weariness ; for, bitter in themselves, they are 
 sweetened by the everlasting sweetness of the life to 
 come. How will all the longest trials shrink into a 
 very nothing, when thy amazed soul shall enter into 
 the brightness of Ilis eternal Light and Love. “ Though 
 He tarry, wait for Him, because He will come. Ho 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 1G7 
 
 will not t^rry.” “ He who sittetli on the throne saith, 
 Behold, thy salvation cometh.” He will come to thee 
 now unseen by grace. He will come to thee veiled in 
 His Sacraments. He will come to thee in thy secret 
 chambers. He will descend upon thee in thy prayers ; 
 He will ascend with thee and bear thee in His arms, 
 that thou faint not, nor grow weary ; He will be with 
 thee in trouble ; in temptation He will shield thee ; in 
 slippery places He will uphold thee ; in the fever-heat 
 of thy passions He will be dew from above to cool thee ; 
 in the cold of desolation He will be fire to kindle thee ; 
 in the aching of the heart. His everlasting Arm will be 
 beneath, whereon to rest thee; in the tumults of thy 
 soul He shall hush thee with more than a mother’s 
 love ; in thy fears He shall fold thee in His Bosom ; in 
 loneliness, He shall be a still small Voice within thee; 
 when father and mother forsake thee. He shall take 
 thee up; when thou passest through the valley of the 
 shadow of death, He saith, ‘H will be with thee; around 
 thee in life ; in death receive thee. Thou shalt fear no 
 evil, for I am with thee.” When thou fearest. He shall 
 lay His Hand upon thee (as He did upon His beloved 
 disciple), and shall strengthen thee, and shall uphold 
 thee by the Right Hand of his Righteousness, saying, 
 “ Fear not, I am the First and the Last ; I am He that 
 liveth and was dead ; and behold I am alive for ever 
 more. Amen : and have the keys of hell and of death. 
 Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with Me, to 
 give to every man according as his work shall be. I 
 am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the 
 First and the Last.” Even so come. Lord Jesus. 
 
168 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Exmnmation^ Resolution^ dsc. 
 
 Think whether the remembrance of the Judgment Day is 
 often present to your mind, so as to make you careful in your 
 actions ; or whether you allow yourself to hear or read of it, 
 as too many, it is to be feared, do, Avith awe indeed, but only 
 with the same unreal, unpractical awe, with which they 
 listen to any fearful history which does not concern them. 
 We all naturally like excitement, and a Sermon on the Day 
 of Judgment will engage every one’s attention. The ques- 
 tion for us to consider is, whether we go home and act 
 upon it. 
 
 Try to imagine what your feelings would be if you knew 
 that the Day of Judgment would be the morroAv; and ask 
 yourself what evil habits you would then wish to have given 
 up, and what good ones to have implanted. Resolutions and 
 efforts concerning them should be made instantly. Death is 
 always close; it may summon you this day. After death 
 corneth the Judgment. Consider Avhether you think of this 
 Avhen you hear death spoken of. 
 
 Probably, in thinking of the Day of Judgment and of the 
 account then to be given, you have been at times so over- 
 powered by its terror that you have felt you could not bear 
 to dwell longer upon it. When this is the case, accustom 
 yourself to the idea in a different form. Do not think so 
 much of escaping punishment as of obtaining the favour of 
 God. Do not distress yourself so much with fearing to offend, 
 as encourage yourself by thinking hoAV you may please your 
 Saviour, so as then, through IIis Mei’its and His mercy, to be 
 accepted of Him. This will make you equally watchful. 
 
 Another feeling Avhich you may have had, in thinking of 
 the Judgment, is, that the account to be rendered is so vast 
 as to be despairing; that because you cannot avoid sinning 
 continually, in spite of your best endeavours, therefore it is 
 in vain to attempt such incessant care. This feeling, Avhich 
 is wrong and dangerous, will be lessened if, instead of trou- 
 bling yourself with the future, you look only to the day pre- 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 169 
 
 sent, and make your resolutions earnestly for that time, re- 
 newing them again and again. It is desirable to have stated 
 times for stated subjects of meditation, for we cannot carry 
 them on all at once. The Church seasons help us much in 
 this respect. As Lent and Easter are the especial times for 
 thinking upon our Blessed Lord’s sufferings, and death, and 
 resurrection ; so Advent is the time when we ought particu- 
 larly to dwell upon the Day of Judgment. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord God, the Judge of all the world, from whom 
 cometh all reward and all punishment, have mercy upon me 
 now, at the hour of death, and in the Day of Judgment, when 
 Thou shalt judge all the congregations of men and angels, 
 according unto right. Teach me, day by day, to watch for 
 Thy coming, and prepare for it by the strictness of a holy 
 life ; and grant, that when Thou shalt pour forth the cup of 
 vengeance upon the ungodly, I may not drink or taste of the 
 dregs of it, but may sit down at Thy table in the Supper of 
 the Lamb, and be satisfied with the blessings of Eternity, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
 8 
 
Thirdly, that I should keep God’s holy will and com- 
 mandments, and walk in the same all the days of my 
 life. 
 
KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS, 
 
 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the Mount, and 
 be there ; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and command- 
 ments which I have written ; that thou mayest teach them.” — Exodus 
 xxiv. 12. 
 
 “ Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His 
 commandments, and His judgments, and statutes, which I command the© 
 this day.” — Deut. viii. 11. 
 
 “ Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the blood 
 of rams.” — 1 Samuel xv. 22. 
 
 “ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hid- 
 den from thee, neither is it far oflF. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst 
 say. Who shall go up to heaven for us, and bring it unto us, that we may 
 hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and 
 in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day 
 life and good, and death and evil.’ — Deut. xxx. 11 — 15. 
 
 “ Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” — ^Deut. 
 xxx. 19. 
 
 “Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, 
 and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of hea- 
 ven ; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great 
 in the kingdom of heaven.” — St. Matt. v. 19. 
 
 “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that 
 loveth me; and he thatloveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will 
 love him, and will manifest myself unto him.” — St. John xiv. 21. 
 
 “ For whosoever shall do the will of God,- the same is my brother, and 
 my sister, and mother.” — St. Mark iii. 35. 
 
 “ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : Fear God, and keep 
 His commandments ; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall 
 bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be 
 good, or whether it be evil.”— Eccles. xii. 13, 14. 
 
172 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have 
 right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city.” — 
 Rev. xxii. 14. 
 
 St. Austin summed up the difference between Phar- 
 isaical and Evangelical righteousness in two words, 
 “ timor et amor,” fear and love. They served the God 
 of their fathers “ in the spirit of fear,” and we worship 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus “in the spirit of love.” 
 And as this slavish principle of theirs was the cause of 
 all their imperfections, so it chiefly expressed itself in 
 these two particulars : 1st, They would do all that they 
 thought they lawfully could do ; 2dly, They would do 
 nothing but what was expressly commanded. 
 
 This was the righteousness of the Scribes and Phar- 
 isees, and their disciples, the Jews; which, because our 
 Blessed Saviour reproves, not only as imperfect then, 
 but as criminal now, calling us on to a new righteous- 
 ness, the righteousness of God, it concerns us to look 
 after the measures of this, since men do not generally 
 know, or do not consider, what it is to be a Christian ; 
 they understand not what the Christian law forbiddeth 
 or commandeth. 
 
 And here we may consider, that as the matter is 
 very great, so the necessity of it is the greatest in the 
 world. It is not a question of an oaken garland, or a 
 circle of bays ; it is not a question of money or land, 
 nor of the vainer rewards of popular noises, and the un- 
 discerning suffrages of the people ; but it is the great 
 stake of Life Eternal. Unless our righteousness be 
 weighed by new weights, we shall be found too light, 
 when God comes to weigh the actions of all the world. 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. lY3 
 
 The righteousness of the Kingdom is now the only way 
 to enter into it ; for the sentence is fixed, the J udge in- 
 fallible, and the decree irreversible. 
 
 Now concerning this, we shall do very much amiss, 
 if we take our measures by the manners and practices 
 of the many who call themselves Christians. The world 
 is too full of Christians, whose righteousness is very 
 little, and their iniquities very great. Example here 
 cannot be our guide ; let us therefore at once go to the 
 rule, and consider what are the necessary and unavoid- 
 able measures of the righteousness evangelical, without 
 which we can never be saved. 
 
 First, then, we should take notice that it must be at 
 least so much as that of the Scribes and Pharisees ; we 
 must keep the letter of the whole moral law ; the out- 
 ward work must be done ; and it is not enough to say, 
 “ My heart is right, but my hand went aside.” Pruden- 
 tius saith that St. Peter wept so bitterly, because he did 
 not confess Christ openly, whom he loved secretly. A 
 right heart alone will not do it ; or rather, the heart is 
 not right, when the hand is wrong. If a man strikes 
 his neighbour and says. Am not I in jest ? it is folly and 
 shame to him,” saith Solomon. It is strange that this 
 should be needful to be pressed amongst Christians, 
 whose religion requires so very much more. But so it 
 is, upon a pretence that we must serve God with the 
 mind, some are such fools as to think that it is enough 
 to have a good meaning. And because we must serve 
 God in the Spirit, therefore they will not serve God with 
 their bodies ; and because they are called upon to have 
 the power and the life of godliness, they abominate all 
 
1Y4 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 external works as mere forms ; and because the true 
 fast is to abstain from sin, therefore they will not abstain 
 from meat and drink, even when they are commanded ; 
 which is just as if a Pharisee, being taught the circum- 
 cision of the heart, should refuse to circumcise his flesh ; 
 or as if, because the soul is the life of man, therefore it 
 is fitting to die in a humour and lay aside the body. 
 
 This, therefore, must be presupposed : we must take 
 care that even our bodies bear a part in our spiritual 
 services. Our voice and tongue, our hands and our feet, 
 must be servants of God, and do the work of the Com- 
 mandments. 
 
 But the heart and the Spirit of a man must in all 
 be the principal actor. We must not give alms without 
 a charitable soul, nor sufier martyrdom but in love and 
 obedience ; and when we say our prayers, we do but 
 misspend our time unless our mind ascend up to God 
 upon the wings of desire. Desire is the life of prayer ; 
 and if you indeed desire what you pray for, you will 
 also labour for what you desire ; and if you find it oth- 
 erwise with yourselves, your coming to church is but 
 like the Pharisee going up to the temple to pray. If 
 your heart be not present, neither will God ; and then 
 there is a sound of men and women between a pair of 
 dead walls, from whence, because neither God nor your 
 souls are present, you must needs go home without a 
 blessing. 
 
 The sum is this : no Christian does his duty to God, 
 but he that serves Him with all his heart : and although 
 it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness, even the exter- 
 nal also ; yet that which makes us gracious in His eyes 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 175 
 
 is not the external ; it is the love of the heart, and the 
 real change of the mind and obedience of the spirit, that 
 is the first great measure of the righteousness evangeli- 
 cal. 
 
 Let it be remembered also, that we must understand 
 all God’s meaning, and be far removed from the dan- 
 gers of His displeasure. A Christian must hate sin 
 in all dimensions, and in all distances, and in every an- 
 gle of its reception. He must not sin, and he must not 
 be willing to sin if he durst. He must abstain also 
 from all such things as are like to sins. Of this nature 
 there are many, — all violences of passion, prodigality of 
 our time, indecency of action, doing things unworthy 
 of our birth or profession, a fierce prosecution even of 
 honourable employments, misconstruction of the words 
 and actions of our brother, easiness to believe evil of 
 others, willingness to report the evil which we hear, par- 
 ticularity in diet, peevishness towards servants, excess in 
 ornaments ; for even this little instance is directly pro- 
 hibited by the Christian and royal law of charity. 
 Charity, saith St, Paul, “ vaunteth not itself ; ” and every 
 thing that is not wisely useful, or proportioned to the 
 state of the Christian, but ministers only to vanity, is a 
 vaunting which the charity and the grace of a Chris- 
 tian does not well endure. It is no wonder if Chris- 
 tianity be nice and curious ; it is the cleanness and the 
 purification of the soul, and Christ intends to present 
 His Church to God, “ without spot or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing.” Mark well — “ or any such thing.” If 
 there be any irregularity that is less than a wrinkle, the 
 evangelical righteousness does not allow it. 
 
176 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 If I see a person apt to quarrel, to take everything 
 in an ill-sense, to resent an error deeply, to reprove it 
 bitterly, to remember it tenaciously, to repeat it fre- 
 quently, to upbraid it unhandsomely, I think I have 
 great reason to say, that this person does not do what 
 becomes the sweetness of a Christian spirit. 
 
 If it be replied, “ It is nowhere forbidden to chide 
 an offending person, and that it cannot be a fault to un- 
 derstand when a thing is said or done amiss,” I cannot 
 return an answer, but by saying, that suppose nothing 
 of it were a sin, yet that every thing of it is so like sin, 
 that it is the worse for it, and that it were better not to 
 do so ; at least I think so, and so ought you too, if you 
 be curious of your eternal interest. A little more ten- 
 derness here would do well. 
 
 These, then, are the measures of our caution and 
 our first innocence ; but there are greater things be- 
 hind. 
 
 The righteousness of the Pharisees was but a frag- 
 ment of the broken tables of Moses ; “ a piece of the 
 robe of righteousness ; ” the righteousness evangelical 
 must be like Christ’s seamless robe, it must invest the 
 whole soul. It must be an universal righteousness ; not 
 a little knot of holy actions scattered in our lives, and 
 drawn into a sum at the Day of Judgment, but it must 
 be a state of holiness. “ The perverse or wicked man,” 
 said Solomon, is a man of two ways.” So St. James 
 expresses an unbeliever, “ a double-minded man,” a man 
 that will and will not ; something he does for God, and 
 something for the world ; he hath two minds ; and in 
 a good fit, in his well days, he is full of repentance and 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDxMENTS. 
 
 177 
 
 overflows in piety ; but the paroxysm will return in the 
 day of temptation, and then he is gone infallibly. But 
 know this, that in the righteousness evangelical, one 
 duty cannot be exchanged for another, and three virtues 
 will not make amends for one remaining vice. Deceive 
 not yourselves. It is all one on which hand we fall. 
 The moon may burn us by night as well as the sun by 
 day ; and a man may be made blind by the light of 
 the sun as well as by the darkness of the evening ; and 
 any one great mischief is enough to destroy one man. 
 Some persons are very meek and gentle naturally, and 
 in order that they may serve God, they pursue the vir- 
 tue of their nature ; that is, they tie a stone at the bot- 
 tom of the well, and that is more than needs : the 
 stone will stay there without that trouble : and, there- 
 fore, our care and caution should be more carefully em- 
 ployed in mortification of our natures, and acquist of 
 such virtues to which we are more refractory ; and then 
 cherish the other too even as much as we please. Others 
 are greatly bountiful to the poor, and love all mankind, 
 and hurt nobody but themselves : but it is a thousand 
 pities to see such loving, good-natured persons to perish 
 infinitely by one crime, and to see such excellent good 
 things thrown away to please an uncontrolled and 
 stubborn lust. But so do some escape out of a pit, and 
 are taken in a trap at their going forth, and stepping 
 aside to avoid the hoar frost, fall into a valley of snow. 
 The righteousness evangelical is another kind of thing : 
 it is a holy conversation, a godlike life, an universal 
 obedience, a keeping back nothing from God, a sancti- 
 fication of the whole man, and keeps not the body only 
 8 * 
 
178 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 but tbe soul and the Spirit, unblamable to the coming 
 of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Lastly, the Pharisaical righteousness was the pro- 
 duct of fear, and therefore what they must needs do, 
 that they would do, but no more : but the righteousness 
 evangelical is produced by love, it is managed by choice, 
 and cherished by delight and fair experiences. Chris- 
 tians are a willing people — “trees of the Lord,” as 
 they are mystically represented in Scripture ; they are 
 of God’s planting, and have a vital principle within, 
 and grow without constraint. 
 
 It was said by one of Christians ; “ They obey the 
 laws, and by the goodness of their lives exceed the 
 laws ; ” and certain it is, no man hath the righteousness 
 evangelical if he resolves always to take all his liberty 
 in everything that is merely lawful ; or if he propose to 
 do no more than he needs must, that is, no more than 
 he is just commanded. 
 
 For he that resolves to use all his liberty cannot be 
 innocent, so long as there are in the world so many 
 bold temptations and presumptuous actions ; so many 
 scandals and so much ignorance in the things of God ; 
 so many things that are suspicious, and so many things 
 that are of evil report ; so many ill-customs and dis- 
 guises in the world, with which, if we resolve to com- 
 ply in all that is supposed lawful, a man may be in the 
 regions of death, before he perceive his head to ache ; 
 and instead of a staff in his hand may have a splinter 
 in his elbow. Besides all this, he that thus stands on 
 his terms with God, and so carefully husbands his duty, 
 and thinks to rnake so good a market of obedience that 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 179 
 
 be will quit nothing which he thinks he may lawfully 
 keep, shall never be exemplar in his life and shall never 
 grow in grace, and therefore shall never enter into 
 glory. 
 
 I remember, that Salvian speaking of old men sum- 
 ming up their repentance, and making amends for the 
 sins of their whole life, exhorts them to alms and works 
 of piety. But inquiring how much they should do to- 
 wards the redeeming of their souls, he answers with a 
 little sarcasm, but plainly enough to give a wise man 
 an answer. “ A man,” says he, “ is not bound to give 
 away all his goods, unless, peradventure, he owes all to 
 God ; but in that case I cannot tell what to say ; for 
 then the case is altered.” A man is not bound to part 
 with all his estate ; that is, unless his sins be greater 
 than his estate ; but if they be, then he may consider 
 of it again, and consider better. And he need not part 
 with it all, unless pardon be more precious to him than 
 his money, and unless Heaven be worth it all, and un- 
 less he knows not justly how much less will do it. If 
 he does, let him try his skill, and pay just so much and 
 no more than he owes to God; but if he does not 
 know, let him be sure to do enough. 
 
 His meaning is this : — not that a man is bound to 
 give all he hath, and leave his children beggars ; he is 
 bound from that by another obligation. But as, when 
 we are tied to pray continually, the meaning is, we 
 should consecrate all our time, by taking good portions 
 out of all our time for that duty ; the devoutest persons 
 being like the waters of Siloam, a perpetual spring, but 
 not a perpetual current ; so out of all our estate we 
 
180 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 must take for religion and repentance suck portions as 
 the whole estate can allow; so much as will consecrate 
 the rest ; so much as is fit to bring when we pray for a 
 great pardon, and deprecate a mighty anger, and turn 
 aside an intolerable fear. 
 
 The sum of all is this : — the righteousness evangeli- 
 cal is the same with that which the ancients called “ to 
 lead an apostolical life,” — that was the measure of 
 Christians, men that desired to please God : — that is, 
 men who are curious of their very eyes, temperate in 
 their tongues, of a mortified body and an humble spirit, 
 pure in their intentions, masters of their passions; — 
 men who, when they are injured, return honourable 
 words ; when they are lessened in their estates, increase 
 in their charity ; when they are abused, yet they are 
 courteous, and give entreaties ; when they are hated, 
 they pay love ; — men that are dull in contentions, and 
 quick in loving-kindnesses, swift as the feet of Asahel, 
 and ready as the chariots of Aminadab. True Chris- 
 tians are such as are crucified with Christ, and dead 
 unto all sin, and finally place their whole love on God, 
 and, for His sake, upon all mankind. The righteous- 
 ness of the Gospel is nothing else but a transcript of 
 the life of Christ. Christ is the image of God, and 
 every Christian is the image of Christ, whose example 
 is inimitable, but it is the best ; and Ilis laws are the 
 most perfect, but the most easy ; and the promises by 
 which He invites our greater services are most excel- 
 lent, but most true ; and the rewards are hereafter, but 
 they shall abide for ever. 
 
 If we would have our portion with Christ, we must 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 181 
 
 be righteous by His measures ; yet, lest their perfection 
 should make us fearful overmuch, it is a sweet word 
 and a true one of St. Bernard, — “ In Thy Book, O 
 Lord, are written all that do what they can, though 
 they cannot do what they ought.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions^ (he. 
 
 Consider whether you are as careful to keep your thoughts 
 in order as your actions ; whether you try to be as devout at 
 your private prayers, and as self-denying when you are by 
 yourself, as you are in public. 
 
 Think whether you allow yourself in actions which you 
 know to be a little doubtful ; and whether you are contented 
 that the doubt should continue, without at once making an 
 effort to decide if it be or be not lawful so to act. 
 
 Think whether you are religious by fits and starts. This 
 does not mean that your conduct and feelings will not vary 
 from day to day ; but that it is a bad sign to be very earnest 
 for a short time, and then suddenly to grow weary, and be- 
 come lukewarm, and give up good resolutions. 
 
 Think whether you do well in those things only which 
 are easy to you. You may be, for instance, good-tempered, 
 when nothing happens to vex you ; energetic, when you are 
 quite well, and not tired; persevering, when you like what 
 you have to do : these things are quite right, but they are no 
 proof that you are trying to please God. Take the duty 
 which you most dislike, and inquire how that is performed. 
 
 Think how you act when a duty presents itself to your 
 mind ; whether you at once resolve to look at it and do it, or 
 whether you put it aside for the moment, and ease your con- 
 science by procrastination. 
 
 Think whether you are always trying to escape your du- 
 ties, or whether you are anxious to understand and practise 
 them to their utmost extent. Your goodness and happiness 
 in life will depend — it is difiicult to say how much — upon 
 
182 
 
 HEADINGS FOR A MONTH, 
 
 this point. Disagreeable duties are like stinging-nettles. If 
 we touch them slightly, they will give us pain. If we grasp 
 them boldly, we shall be unhurt. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, &c. 
 
 O Lord our God, Who art infinite in wisdom, and present 
 in all places, filling Heaven, and earth, and hell with the ef- 
 fects of Thy mighty Power, let Thy hand, I beseech Thee, 
 lead me, and Thy Right Hand hold me in all my ways, al- 
 ways considering that Thou art present, understanding my 
 thoughts and words, even long before they are, and seeing 
 my most secret ways as clearly as in the light of the Sun. 
 Print Thy fear mightily upon my soul, that I may be as fear- 
 ful of committing sins in secret as in the eyes of all the world : 
 and grant that, hating all iniquity, and loving Thy counsels 
 as my dearest treasure and guide, I may, by the paths of a 
 holy life, be conducted into the way everlasting ; through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 
 
 Our Father, &e. 
 
 The question as to the extent and nature of our duties is 
 not easily determined. One general rule must be given, to 
 serve God with all our heart ; without this there is no hap- 
 piness and no safety. But in the case of persons possessing 
 very tender consciences, the wish to do all they think they 
 ought to do sometimes leads to scruples, and destroys vigour 
 of mind. Such persons are unable to carry on a rational 
 self-discipline, or to form a correct judgment, and in conse- 
 quence, their usefulness is destroyed, though their purity and 
 goodness may remain. 
 
 A few hints upon the subject, sonae of them taken from 
 the suggestions given by Bishop Taylor for the direction of 
 the conscience, may therefore be useful. 
 
 In the case of a perplexed conscience, when men think 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 183 
 
 that whichever part they choose they sin, — the choice is to 
 be determined according to that which we believe is the less 
 sin. It should therefore be considered — 
 
 IVliich is most agreeable to the letter of Scripture. 
 
 Which is most for the glory of God. 
 
 Which will give the least offence. 
 
 If it be a question of deference to authority, we may 
 remember that, 
 
 God is to be preferred before Man. 
 
 Superiors or those in just* authority, before private per- 
 sons. 
 
 Our own superior before strangers. 
 
 We are not obliged to do all things which we fancy may 
 be right, but we are bound to abstain from all which we sus- 
 pect may be wrong. 
 
 Yet, if we have a just reason for an action, we need not bo 
 deterred by a scruple. 
 
 It is said that St. Bernard was tempted to give up preach- 
 ing, because it brought vainglorious thoughts to his mind. 
 But he replied to the suggestion of the devil, I neither be- 
 gan for thee, nor for thee will I leave off.” Plain duties are 
 not to be abandoned, because, through our weakness, sin 
 may mingle with them. 
 
 In matters of self-discipline or practices of devotion, it is 
 not desirable to form resolutions directly an idea presents it- 
 self to the mind. If, for instance, while in the act of prayer, 
 it seem good to use any particular form, or to pray for any 
 particular person, or any special grace, it is not well to re- 
 solve at once that the same practice shall be continued as a 
 habit. The impulse should be followed at the moment, but 
 the resolution may be more safely left for after consideration. 
 
 Any duty which presents itself ought, after calm consid- 
 eration, to be entirely accepted or entirely dismissed. Per- 
 sons are often in the habit of saying, “I know I ought to do 
 such or such a thing, but really I have not time.” This is a 
 foolish mode of speaking, and not good for the conscience. 
 If there is actually not time to do the thing, it is untrue to 
 
184 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 say it ought to be done. God does not require of us that 
 which is impossible. In too many of these cases there is un- 
 consciously an attempt to salve the conscience by the acknow- 
 ledgment of a duty which we do not choose to exert our- 
 selves to perform. Whenever, therefore, the idea of a new 
 duty occurs, it is desirable to go carefully in thought through 
 the day as it is, and see how and when this fresh claim may 
 be attended to. If you really have not time, put it aside, 
 and do not vex yourself about it. For our happiness in com- 
 munion with God it is most important to have a conscience 
 “void of offence,” and all these floating duties are clouds 
 which come between us and Him, Whose Love is our re- 
 ward. 
 
 Persons who are apt to be scrupulous should be very care- 
 ful to fear great things greatly, as well as little things. It 
 sometimes happens that serious duties are neglected, whilst 
 the conscience is distressed at the movement of a straw. If 
 you are aware that this is the case, it is better to throw aside 
 the scruple at once, and bend all your energies to the perfor- 
 mance of your plain duties. When you feel yourself to be 
 heartily in earnest, you will find yourself more in a condition 
 to form a right estimate of the value of the scruple. It may 
 be remembered, also, that since scruples often do injury to our 
 health, and make religion a burden, it cannot be a sin to 
 stop all this evil, and directly to throw away the scruple, 
 and proceed to some good action. 
 
 Scrupulous persons should never make vows or resolu- 
 tions for any length of time. Whatever good things they 
 intend, should be done when they can, when it is convenient. 
 They should strive not to be singular, to do what other 
 prudent and good people, their friends and neighbours, do. 
 
 A scruple often so possesses the mind, as almost to des- 
 troy the reasoning powers ; in this case it is a help to resolve 
 to put the matter entirely aside for some stated time, a month 
 or more, to give the mind rest. 
 
 It is important, also, in the matter of self-government, 
 have a clear idea of comparative duties. For instance, pc 
 
KEEPING god’s COMMANDMENTS. 185 
 
 sons frequently confound moral and ecclesiastical laws, and, 
 in trying to keep the latter, they break the former. 
 
 The moral law is contained in the Ten Commandments, 
 and is the same always, in all places. The ecclesiastical law 
 is contained in the Canons of the Church, which may, and do 
 difter at different times. All Christians, in all parts of the 
 world, are equally bound to abstain from murder, theft, <fec., 
 but all are not equally bound to observe certain specified 
 holy days. The moral law, therefore, being unalterable, 
 takes precedence of the ecclesiastical law. We may in some 
 cases, without sin, give up forms and ceremonies, or even 
 practices, which have been sanctioned by the Church ; but 
 we can never, without sin, disobey our parents, or set our- 
 selves up to judge our superiors. 
 
 These questions are a fruitful source of conscientious 
 scruple, and, therefore, it is very necessary to learn how to 
 decide them. But we shall do well to remember that if we 
 ever wish to judge rightly, or, indeed, to be able to direct 
 ourselves, and form a correct decision upon any matter, we 
 must begin by being honest-minded. Strictness of life and 
 sincerity of heart, are the first steps towards the formation 
 of a good judgment. Without these we shall have no con- 
 fidence in ourselves: with them we shall not be afraid to 
 grant ourselves liberty, or even to decide in accordance with 
 our own inclinations, when those inclinations are right. 
 
 In all the cases to which reference has been made, the 
 counsel of our spiritual guides, and of wise and prudent 
 friends, is of course a very great assistance ; but such help 
 is not always at hand, and we must, therefore, practise our- 
 selves in self-government, in order to be ready for any emer- 
 gency. 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD 
 
 “Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy 
 soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” — 
 St. Matt. xxii. 37, 38. 
 
 “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is 
 Love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Here- 
 in is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of 
 judgment; because as He is so are we in this world. There is no fear in 
 love ; but perfect love casteth out fear ; because fear hath torment. He 
 that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He first 
 loved us.” — 1 St. John, iv. 16 — 19. 
 
 “ Hereby perceive we the Love of God, because He laid down His life for 
 us.” — 1 St. John. iii. 16. 
 
 X “ F oj; thi s cause I bow n^ knees unto the ^a^her of our Lord Jesus 
 ^Cj wist . ^T^hom the wholi^amily injKeaven and ^rth ig^am^, th^ He 
 would gran ^^u, ac cording to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened 
 with might by in^s Spirit in ill'S'ifHier mlTn ; th^ Christ may dwell in your 
 heartsj^^^j|;h : ttutl7yoi>hcing rootecTahd grounded in i^'vep iiav be*able 
 to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
 and height ; and to the Love of Christ, which passeth k^wkdare. 
 
 that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” — Eph. iii 14 — 19. 
 
 “Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall'^ibulation, or 
 distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword ?” — Eom. 
 viii. 35. 
 
 “ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him 
 that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, 
 nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us 
 ft-om the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Rom. viii. 
 37—39. 
 
 “ I will love Thee, 0 Lord, my strength : the Lord is my strong Rock, 
 and my fortress, my Deliverer, my God, my Strength, in whom I will trust, 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 187 
 
 my Buckler and the Horn of my salvation, and my high Tower.'”— Psalm 
 xviii. 1. 
 
 “ My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the Living God ; when shall 1 
 come to appear before the presence of God?” — Psalm xlii. 2. 
 
 There is probably no human being who will not 
 readily allow that the great wish of our lives is to make 
 ourselves happy. Our own nature bids us so act as to 
 satisfy our wants and indulge every pleasurable feeling 
 which brings not pain in the rear ; in one word, to make 
 ourselves as happy as we may. And God, having given 
 us this commandment written on our hearts, to pursue 
 our own chief good, bids us, in the Bible, “ love the Lord 
 our God with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our 
 minds.” The one leads us to the end ; the other points 
 out the way. And the love of God must be, of all 
 our pleasures, the best, the purest, the most constant, the 
 most independent of external circumstances, the begin- 
 ning of our heaven upon earth. 
 
 We do not require to be told what is meant by lov- 
 ing God. We all know, in some form or another, what 
 this feeling of affection is towards our fellow creatures. 
 It is to take pleasure in the sight of themselves, and in 
 the contemplation of their character and conduct ; to de- 
 light in being near them ; to have them constantly pres- 
 ent to our thoughts ; to dread the loss of their regard ; 
 to covet their unlimited attachment ; to feel joy in their 
 joy, and sorrow in their sorrow ; and to be assured that 
 in all their thoughts and actions they sympathise and 
 agree with ourselves. 
 
 And that this state of mind is the highest pleasure 
 we enjoy upon earth, is evident from the experience of 
 
188 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 US all. We stand upon the verge of life as on the fron- 
 tier of a glorious country. It lies before us glittering in 
 the freshness of the morning ; and we hear the songs of 
 all created things rising up in gratitude to heaven, and 
 we gaze on it with aglow of exultation. But the ear wea- 
 ries ; and the eye is pained ; there is a chasm still to be 
 filled ; and we long — we all have done so — for some soul 
 to cling to with our love. “ Beloved,” said the Apostle, 
 ^ let us love one another ; for love is of God, and every 
 one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” 
 But if our fellow creatures be all that we can love, we 
 are indeed miserable. If we look for affection only in the 
 world, God have mercy upon us ! Thousands there are 
 who have felt and acknowledged what has been said. 
 Thousands have sought their highest happiness in sym- 
 pathy ond love ; and the end has been misery and sin. 
 
 Wlien we part with our dearest treasure, the all in 
 which our life is wrapped up, let us beware where we 
 lay it. When our heart is to be staked, let us look well 
 at the die. 
 
 Rest it upon man, without any thought of God or 
 Heaven, and it were better for us to have a millstone 
 hung round our neck, and to be “ cast into the depths of 
 the sea.” 
 
 AVe demand a heart pure and perfect. Can man 
 give it us? We long for his fullest affection. Can we 
 ensure it ? AYe require an unchanging stability. Is not 
 man the creature of the moment ? And to see the faults 
 of those we love is one bitter pang ; to watch by them 
 in suffering, without the means of giving them relief, is 
 another ; and to dread lest they escape from our hold, 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD, 
 
 189 
 
 and link themselves to some other being, is a third; 
 and to part from them even in this life, when we may 
 still meet again, is a fourth. But there is a fifth beyond 
 them all : it is to stand by their death bed, and part 
 for ever : to liave nothing left us upon earth to care 
 for ; to see before us a dreary wilderness of years, with- 
 out a spot on which to rest our eye ; to be left alone in 
 the midst of a noisy, careless, hard-hearted crowd ; and 
 look back upon the days of happiness, that will never re- 
 turn. 
 
 We read of such misery in fiction, and to some it 
 may seem but fancy or folly. But it is very real, and 
 very common. And God brings it upon us in His 
 mercy, as He sets signs in the heavens to warn us against 
 storms. 
 
 Our heart was made for Him, and not for man. If 
 we give it to Him fully and freely, if we offer Him the 
 first fruits of our affections, He will sanctify the whole 
 harvest. He cannot change. He cannot deceive. He 
 will not desert us. He can bless us with all the stores 
 of His bounty. He dies not ; and the grave is but the 
 vestibule to that home where He is waiting to receive 
 us. And before that home is reached even here upon 
 earth, there are thousands and thousands of His children 
 who claim and may receive our love, when once we have 
 joined in their woi-ship. Love God, and the sons of God ; 
 and friends, brothers, kinsmen, meet us on every shore. 
 We cannot be alone in the world ; we cannot love too 
 warmly, or trust too confidingly. 
 
 Yet our affections, it may be said, are' very little in 
 our own power ; there is scarcely anything more dif- 
 
190 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 ficult, than to trace the gradual growth of human 
 friendship or love ; how, then, shall we learn to love 
 God? 
 
 God is our Father ; not only our Maker and Preser- 
 ver, but the Being who cherishes and watches over us 
 with the same fondness as a parent guards his children. 
 And is not one of the first principles of mutual affection 
 the knowledge that others love us? God loves us, 
 sinful as we are, miserable as we are, ungrateful as we 
 are. 
 
 Sin, indeed, hardened and reckless sin. He hates and 
 abhors. So does nan. But a broken and contrite heart, 
 the tears of a repentant sinner, the fii-st dawn of an 
 awakening spirit, the burning and terrified prayer that 
 we may never relapse again, — let us look into our 
 hearts, and ask if we-turn away from such a sight, and 
 then think if the sins we have forsaken can indeed sepa- 
 rate us from the love of our God. Do not distrust the 
 solemn and repeated assurances of Him, who paid the 
 penalties of our sins, that His Blood has washed them 
 out. There is no kind or degreee of guilt which He will 
 not pardon, which He will not blot out from. His remem- 
 brance, if we turn with hearty contrition and true faith 
 to Him. 
 
 “ I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man 
 could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, 
 and tongues, stood before the Throne, and before the 
 Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
 hands.” Amongst these there is room for us, if, in our 
 offences upon earth, we will become even like little chil- 
 dren. When the voice of conscience warns us of our 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 191 
 
 guilt, let us kneel down before our God and Saviour, 
 confessing and asking pardon for our sins, as a child falls 
 down at the knees of its parent, hiding its face in his lap, 
 and speaking only by tears. There are earthly parents, 
 who cannot pardon ; but God cannot turn away. There 
 are earthly parents, who do not forget ; but our repent- 
 ance wipes out our sins before heaven, as if they had 
 never been. And when we turn away, forgiven and 
 caressed, from man, we are left to our own infirmities, 
 and shall sin again. But God does not thus abandon 
 us. He sends with us His Comforter and Guide, not 
 only to keep us from evil, but to be an earnest of our 
 restoration to His love. 
 
 And in such seasons of remorse we may turn also 
 to those parts of our Saviour’s life, which touch most 
 closely on our own feelings and sympathies. We may 
 not bear to listen to His denunciations against sinners, 
 when we feel that we are sinners ourselves. But we 
 may see Him blessing infants, healing the sick, teaching 
 the crowds that came to Him ; wandering about with- 
 out a home to rest His Head ; weeping over the grave 
 of Lazarus ; deserted by all His friends in the midst of 
 His sufiering ; abandoned, in the place of a murderer, 
 to the outcry of a mob ; and dying patiently and silent- 
 ly on the cross — for whose sake ? 
 
 We call ourselves Christians; we profess to believe 
 that Christ died to save us : can it be necessary to teach 
 us how we may learn to love Him ? 
 
 Neither may we forget that attachment to our friends 
 is formed by constant association, and uninterrupted hab- 
 its of thinking on them in absence, and living with them 
 
192 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 when present. We must act in like manner towards 
 God. He must be in our thoughts day and night. We 
 must not reserve His worship as fit for His Temple only, 
 or confined to peculiar occasions. It must wake us in 
 the morning, and close our eyes at night ; and be with 
 us as our Guardian Angel in all times, in all places, in 
 all our pursuits. There is no bond of union so endear- 
 ing as this entire dependence and reliance upon a Hand 
 which is stretched over our heads to guard us when we 
 sleep, to warn us when we wake, to lead us in the midst 
 of darkness, to preserve us from every danger. We 
 must pray to God day and night in the secrecy of our 
 hearts, if we would learn to love Him. And our pray 
 ers should be peculiar and definite. They should be 
 raised for specified objects, for our own private domestic 
 wants, for little scarce-felt comforts, which cost us but 
 a thought, but which, if rightly employed, may soon form 
 us to a habit of religion. Do not despise them, because 
 they are trifling. Do not think that God will turn 
 away, because life and death are not involved in them. 
 Nothing is little to us, which brings our hearts to Him, 
 and nothing is great to Him who holds the universe in 
 His Hands. Bring to God your natural wants, and your 
 innocent desires, as they rise in your minds ; tell Him 
 your own wishes, give up to His decision their disap- 
 pointment or satisfaction : ask with this reserve, — if it 
 be expedient for me. And when, as assuredly will oc- 
 cur, day after day in your life, you find blessings coming 
 down upon your head, you see not how, dangers escaped 
 imperceptibly, temptations diminishing without eftbrt, 
 — see in it all the finger of God, watching over your 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 193 
 
 own individual interests, and hearing your specific pe- 
 titions. 
 
 Whether, when our prayers are heard, we shall learn 
 to love God, we need scarcely ask. 
 
 Ao’iiin : If we brino; our sacrifice to the Altar of 
 God, we shall soon become devoted to His service. 
 
 Let us look up in the night when all the stars of 
 heaven are rolling above us, and think that each is a 
 world, filled, it may be, with myriads of immortal spir- 
 its ; that no mortal eye has ever counted their infinitude ; 
 that God is in them all, and His Majesty poured abroad 
 upon the universe ; that all created things were made 
 for Him, and all the host of heaven worship Him day 
 by day. And can man give glory to God ? The Bible 
 tell us that we may ; that we may join with saints and an- 
 gels in glorifying God. And how is God to be glorified ? 
 By praising and blessing His Name ; by spreading the 
 knowledge of His Word ; by checking in others and our- 
 selves every word that may I’ender it despised ; by exerting 
 all the faculties of our nature in discovering and executing 
 His Will. Let us but consider ourselves as dedicated pe- 
 culiarly to Him, consecrated from our youth upward to 
 the service of His Temple, and we shall soon imbue our 
 minds with that holy and affectionate zeal for which 
 the Voice of God blessed David, as the man after His 
 own Heart. 
 
 But another way in which we may learn to love God, 
 is, as we learn to love our benefactors, by dwelling on 
 the favours we receive from them. There is but one 
 Eye that sees our hearts, and knows our thoughts. Per- 
 haps it is well that it should be so. If our lips spoke 
 9 
 
194 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 nothing but our feelings, would not our 23raises and 
 thanksgivings be very few? Not a day passes without 
 our formally acknowledging that all we have and hope 
 for comes to us from heaven. Do we really believe it ? 
 when we give “ humble and hearty thanks” for the good- 
 ness and loving-kindness of God “to us and to all men,” 
 are we not mocking ? Is it j^ossible that we should feel 
 our God to be the Giver of every good thing, and yet 
 require to be taught the way to love Him ? 
 
 Alas ! too many of us do not believe, and do not feel 
 it. The blessings of God are sometimes mixed up with 
 what in our ignorance, we presumptuously call evil. We 
 fancy that they come to us by the regular operation of 
 Nature ; as if Nature were aught but another word for 
 the Providence of God. We require some partial and 
 peculiar marks of His favour to warm us into gratitude. 
 Are not these our real thouo^hts when we kneel down 
 to thank God for His Goodness ? But we must, indeed, 
 abandon them. We must not wait for overwhelming 
 prosperity to acknowledge as a gift from God ; but seize 
 upon our little comforts, the 2 )etty advantages, the trifling 
 conveniences of life, and refer them each and all to His 
 Goodness without Whom not even a sparrow falls to the 
 ground. And we must look abroad upon the world with 
 very diffei’ent eyes from those of covetousness and envy. 
 We have been baptized into the Communion of Christ, 
 we have shared His promised grace, and are entitled to 
 the glory which He oflers. And that life which with- 
 out the Bible were, indeed, but a tomb for man, is to us 
 full of cheerfulness and peace, for it is the entrance to 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 195 
 
 heaven. What have we clone to merit such a distinc- 
 tion ? God has called us from darkness and death to 
 the inheritance of an angel of light, and we feel no grat- 
 itude whatever. He has, it may be, reserved from us 
 some mischievous luxury, and we are full of discontent. 
 He has created us out of nothing, planned an universe 
 for our sakes, and sent His Son to die for our salvation. 
 We thank Him for it every day with our lips ; but our 
 hearts, are they not far from Him ? 
 
 When every night, before we retire to sleep, we kneel 
 down in our closets, not only to petition God to give us 
 what we think is for our good, but to count up every 
 joy of the day, and bless the Hand that gave it, we 
 shall learn to love our God as the Author of all our hap- 
 piness. 
 
 And there are other means of learning to love Him 
 which we know, but do we practise ? Entreaties that 
 He would teach us Himself; prayers that His Spirit 
 would conform us to His own Image ; the removal of 
 all our thoughts and affections from the dead, miserable, 
 polluted objects of this world, that they may find but 
 one home in Heaven. 
 
 God grant us strength to employ, and perseverance 
 to turn them to our profit. God grant .that we may 
 love Him, here upon earth, as He has loved us. God 
 grant us to attain to that Heaven where our happiness 
 shall be perfected for ever, and we shall dwell with Him 
 in the fulness of His Glory. 
 
196 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, <&c. 
 
 Think whether your feelings of love towards God are 
 at all equal to those which you have for your earthly 
 friends. 
 
 If you are aware that there is a very great difference, 
 ask yourself whether, honestly and truly, ^^ou wish to please 
 God more than to enjoy any earthly pleasure. This is the 
 first step towards the love of God. If you cannot answer the 
 inquiry satisfactorily, do not try to excite your feelings, but 
 pray to God to give you a better spirit, and resolve still to do 
 your best to please Him. 
 
 Think whether, from love to your friends, or a wish to 
 gratify them, you are ever tempted to do what you know or 
 suspect to be wrong. If this be so, the affection you feel is 
 greater than it ought to be ; but if not, do not make yourself 
 unhappy, or think that God wTll not love you, because your 
 feelings towards your earthly friends are warmer than they 
 are towards Him. Try heartily to serve Him, think of Him 
 in the manner suggested in the paper you have just read, and 
 pray to Him to give 'you the grace of Love; and then rest 
 in the hope, that in His own good time He will vouchsafe it 
 to you. 
 
 Think whether you are always longing for some one to 
 love you better than any one else in the world. This wish 
 is natural, but it is dangerous, and should be checked, not by 
 reasoning, but by an endeavour to put it aside, and attend more 
 strictly to daily duties, with the wish to please God. When 
 this is done sineerely and heartily, whether earthly love be giv- 
 en or withheld, God will at last, w^e may humbly trust, vouch- 
 safe to us the enjoyment of the love which includes all love, 
 the love of our Redeemer. “ Though it tarry,” yet must we 
 “ wait for it, because it will surely come ; it will not tarry.” 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Father of Mercies, and God of all comfort and love, 
 
THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 197 
 
 grant to me, Thy unworthy servant, to love Thee far above 
 all the world, that 1 may, with sincerity of intention and 
 l^urest affection, seek Thee alone, arid in Thee alone take my 
 rest, inseparably joining myself unto Thee, Who art worthy 
 to be beloved and adored of all Thy creatures, with low- 
 liest reverence, and highest affection, now and for evermore. 
 Amen. 
 
 Our Father, (fee. 
 
REVERENCE. 
 
 “Who is like unto Thee, 0 Lord, among the gods? who is like Thee, 
 Glorious in Holiness, Fearful in Praises, doing woi^lers?” — Fxodus, xv. 
 11 . 
 
 “ I know that Thou canst do eveiything, and that no thought can be with- 
 holdenfrom Thee. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but 
 now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust 
 and ashes.” — Job, xlii. 2, 5, 6. 
 
 “ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had 
 in reverence of all them that are about Him.” — Psalm Ixxxix. 7. 
 
 “ Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord 
 your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the 
 likeness of anything, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For 
 the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” — Deut. iv. 23, 24. 
 
 “ If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written 
 in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name; The 
 Lord Tiiy God : Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the 
 plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore 
 sicknesses, and of long continuance.” — Deut. xxviii. 58, 59. 
 
 “Ye shallkecp my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the 
 Lord.” — Lev. xxvi. 2. 
 
 “Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the gen- 
 eral assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven, and 
 to God the Judge of all, and to the Spirits of just men made perfect, and to 
 Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinklings 
 that speaketh better things than that of A.bel. See that ye refuse not Him 
 that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, 
 much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh 
 from heaven.” — Heb. xii. 22 — 25. 
 
 “ Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot bo moved, let in? 
 have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and 
 godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” — Heb. xii. 28, 29. 
 
 No wise Gliristian, who hath so iiuicli as sojourned 
 in this world, can choose but feel, and (with grief of 
 
KEVEnENCE. 
 
 199 
 
 heart) confess this truth, that we are ready to think of 
 God’s matters as no better than our own; so that we 
 walk with the Great God of Heaven as with our fellow, 
 •and think of llis Sacred Ordinances, as either some com- 
 mon emjDloyment, or hishionable superfluity. Out of 
 an earnest desire, therefore, to settle in ourselves right 
 thoughts and meet dispositions of heart, towards the 
 Glorious and Infinite Majesty of our God and His Holy 
 Services, let us, to the unspeakable comfort of our souls, 
 inquire, how we may here upon earth learn to reverence 
 Him who is invisible ; for truly there is nothing so well 
 becoming a mind sensible of infinity as that awful dis- 
 position of the heart towards God, which we are fain to 
 misname Fear. 
 
 Surely, it was wisely said of him of old, that it is 
 more easy to know what God is not, than what He is. 
 God will admit no image of Himself, no, not in thought. 
 All possibly conceivable ideas and similitudes, as they 
 are infinitely too low, so are they clean contrary to His 
 spiritual nature and His express charge. Yet, there is 
 nothing that we can see which doth not put us in mind 
 of God. What creature is there, wherein we do not 
 espy some footsteps of a Deity ? Every herb, flower, 
 leaf in our garden ; every bird and fly in the air ; every 
 ant and worm in the ground ; every spider in our win- 
 dow, — speaks the Omnipotence and Infinite AVisdom 
 of their Creator. IS one of these may pass us without 
 some fruitful monition of acknowledging a Divine 
 Hand ; for in Him it is that they and we all “ live, and 
 move, and have our being.” 
 
 That Infinite God, therefore, who cannot but be 
 
200 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH, 
 
 every where, must be acknowledged to be ever, in a 
 glorious manner, present with us, manifesting His 
 Presence most eminently in the high Heavens, and yet 
 filling both Heaven and earth with the Majesty of His» 
 Glory. He comprehends the whole world. Himself 
 only being incomprehensible. Secluded from no place, 
 included in no place ; nearer to us than our own souls ; 
 when we die we part from them ; from Him we cannot 
 part, with Whom remoteness of place can make no dif- 
 ference, time no change. 
 
 But alas ! we cannot so much as look upon the sun- 
 beams but we are dazzled and blinded with that which 
 gives us opportunity of sight ; and how, then, can we 
 behold the infinite resplendence of Him that made it ? 
 The Spirit of God within us can alone enable us to see 
 the Invisible. When now we look throuirh the air at 
 any object, our sight passes through it and rests not in 
 it : and whilst we are here below, we cannot but see the 
 world ; even the holiest eye cannot look oft* it : but it 
 should be to us, as the vast air is betwixt us and the 
 starry heaven, only for passage, till it hath attained 
 thither where is an Infinite Majesty, a Glory incompre- 
 hensible and boundless, attended and adored by mil- 
 lions of heavenly angels and glorified spirits. 
 
 And to this Majesty way must be made by the im- 
 agination of a transcendent light wherein God dwelleth^ 
 as far above this outward light which we see, as that is 
 above darkness : for though we may not in our thoughts 
 liken God to any created brightness (be it never so glo- 
 rious), yet nothing forbids us to think of the place of 
 His Eternal Habitation as infinitely resplendent above 
 
RifiVERENCE. 
 
 201 
 
 the comparison of those beams wliich any creature can 
 cast forth. “ He is clothed,” saith the Psalmist, “ with 
 light as with a garment.” Far be it, therefore, from us, 
 when we would look up to a Deity, to have our eye* 
 sight terminated by a sad darksomeness, which hath no 
 alHnity with that Divine Majesty who hath thought 
 good to describe itself by Light. Let our hearts adore 
 such an Infinite Spirit, as that the light wherein He 
 dwells is inaccessible, the light which He hath and is, is 
 inconceivable. And when our eyes have been thus 
 lifted up above the hills to the sight of the Invisible, let 
 them instantly be cast down, and turned inwards, to see 
 our own wretchedness, how weak and poor we are, how 
 frail, how vain and momentary 1 Our being is vanity, 
 our substance corruption, our life is but a blast, our be- 
 ginning impotent, our continuance short and trouble- 
 some, our end grievous. Who can assure himself of 
 one minute of time, of one dram of contentment ? But 
 woe is me ! other creatures are frail too ; none but man 
 is sinful. Our composition lays us open to mortality ; 
 but our sin exposes us to the eternal wrath of God. 
 The grave waits for us as men. Hell as sinners. What 
 act of ours is free from this woful pollution ? Who 
 eats or drinks, or sleeps, or moves, or talks, or thinks, 
 or hears, or prays without it ? Who can compare his 
 own shameful estate with the dreadful, incomprehensi- 
 ble Majesty of the Great God ; his own sinfulness with 
 that infinite Purity and Justice ; his own misery with 
 the Glory of that immense Mercy ; and not presently 
 thereupon find himself affected with a trembling awful- 
 ness ? 
 
 9 * 
 
202 
 
 tlEADIKGS EOU A MONTIl. 
 
 Beligious adoration, therefore, begins in the heart, 
 but it ends not there. AVhere the heart stoops, it can- 
 not be but the knees must bend. Our Fear cannot be 
 smothered in our bosoms. Every thing that pertains to 
 that Infinite Majesty must carry from us due testifica- 
 tions of our awe, — His Name, His Word, His Services, 
 His House, His Messengers. The Jews held the letters 
 and syllables of His ineffable Name in such dreadful 
 respect, that they deemed it worthy of death for any 
 but sacred lips, and they but in set times and places, to 
 express it. And well may we learn this grace from 
 them, not rashly, slightly, regardlessly, to take the 
 awful Name of God into our mouths, but to hear and 
 speak it (when occasion is given) with all holiness and 
 due veneration. 
 
 There are those that stumble at their adoration at 
 the blessed Name of Jesus, prescilbed and practised by 
 our Church, as unjustly conceiving that we put a su- 
 perstitious holiness in the very sound of the word ; 
 whereas it is the person of that Blessed Saviour, to 
 whom, upon this occasion, our knees are bended ; a 
 gesture so far out of the just reach of blame, that if it 
 seemed ofood to the wisdom of the Church to allot this 
 reverent respect to all the names whereby tlie Majesty 
 of God, in the whole Sacred Trinity, is signified, it were 
 most meet to be accordingly exhibited unto them. 
 Certainly, if the heart be so thoroughly possessed with 
 a sad awe of that Infinite Majesty as it ought, the 
 tongue dare not presume, in a sudden unmannerliness, 
 to blurt out the dreadful Name of God. I am ashamed 
 to think how far we are surpassed with the heathenish 
 
Ueverence. 
 
 203 
 
 piety. The ancient Grecians, when they would swear 
 by their Jupiter, out of the mere dread and reverence 
 of his name foi’bare to mention him, whilst the profane 
 mouths of many Christians make no difference in their 
 appellation between their God and their servant. 
 
 And as the Name, so the Word of our Maker chal- 
 lengeth an awful regard from us. What worlds of nice 
 caution have the masters of the Synagogue prescribed 
 to their disciples, for their demeanour towards the Book 
 of the Law of their God ! No letter of it might be writ 
 without a copy, no line of it without a rule ; no man might 
 touch it but with the right hand, and without a kiss of 
 reverence : no man might sit in the presence of it ; no 
 man might carry it behind him, but lay it next his 
 heart in his travel ; no man might sell it, though the 
 copy were moth-eaten, and himself half famished. 
 And is the Word of the Everlasting God of less worth 
 and authority now, than it hath been ? Or is there 
 less cause of our reverence of those Divine oracles than 
 theirs ? Certainly, if they were superstitiously scrupu- 
 lous, it is not for us to be carelessly, slovenly, and neg- 
 lective of that Sacred Book out of which we shall once 
 be judged. Even that impure Alcoran of the Turks 
 is forbidden to be touched by any but pure hands; and 
 if we profess to bear an inward honour to our Sacred 
 Volume, why should we, how can we, think it free for 
 us to entertain it with an unmannerly neglect? 
 
 As to the Name and Word, so to the Services of 
 God must the efficacy of our holy Fear be diffused, 
 and these, whether private or public. If we pray, our 
 awe will call us either to a standing on our feet as ser- 
 
2^04 
 
 RTIADINGS FOR A MONTE?. 
 
 vants, or a bowing of our knees^ as supplicants, or a 
 prostration on our faces as dejected penitents. Whai 
 prince would not scorn the rudeness of a sitting peti- 
 tioner ? It v/as a just distinction of Socrates of old,, 
 that to sacrifice is to give to God, to pray is to beg of 
 God ; and who is so liberal as to cast away his alms 
 upon a stout and unreverent beggar? If we attend 
 God’s message in the mouth of His servants,, whether 
 read or preached, our Fear will frame us to a reverent 
 carriage of our bodies, so as out veiy outward deport- 
 ment may really seem to speak the words of the good 
 Centurion, “ Now we are all here present before God^ 
 to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. 
 
 It was a great word that Simeon,^ the son of Satach^ 
 said to the Jewish prince and priest convented before 
 the Sanhedrim, “Thou standest not before us, but be- 
 fore Flirn that said. Let the world be made, and it was 
 made.” 
 
 If we address ourselves to the dreadful mysteries 
 of the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of 
 our Lord Jesus, our Fear will bend our knees hi a meet 
 reverence to that Great and Gracious Saviour Who is 
 there lively represented, oflTered, given, sealed up to our 
 souls ; Who, at that heavenly table, is (as Saint Jerome 
 saith truly) both the Guest and the Banquet. Christ 
 Jesus is here really tendered to us ; and if we prepare 
 not both souls and bodies to receive Him reverently, 
 our sinful rudeness shall make us utterly incapable of 
 so blessed a Presence. 
 
 Neither doth our awful regard reach only to the 
 axjtions of God’s service, but extends itself even to the 
 
REVEKENCE'. 
 
 205 
 
 very “ house wliicli is called by Ills name, the place 
 where Ills honour dwelleth.” A fit word was that of 
 the good Patriarch, who sware by his father’s Fear, 
 which he spake of his Bethel, “ How dreadful is this 
 place ; this is none other but the blouse of God, this is 
 the gate of fleaven.” It is recorded of Bt. Swithin (the 
 310 less famous than humble Bishop of Winchester), 
 that when he died, he gave charge that his body should 
 not, in any case, be buried within the church, but be 
 laid where his grave might be wet with rain, and open 
 to weather and passengers, — I suppose, as conceiving 
 that Sacred Place too good for the repository of the 
 best carcasses. And what shall we say, then, of the 
 common profaneness of those careless Christians that 
 make no distinction betwixt their Church and their 
 barn; that care not to look unto their foul feet when 
 they come under this Sacred Roof, that with equal ir- 
 reverence stumble into God’s House and their tavern ? 
 Surely, we cannot easily entertain too venerable an 
 opinion of the Habitation of the Almighty. If we 
 have an holy regard to the God of Heaven, and adore 
 Him as inhabiting our bosoms, we cannot but give all 
 fair and venerable respects to those Houses which He 
 hath taken for His own worship and Presence. 
 
 Neither, lastly, can God’s very messengers (though 
 partners of our own infirmities) escape some sensible 
 reflections of our fear. It was the rule of the Jews that 
 the very prince of the people, if he w ould consult God’s 
 Oracle, must reverently stand before that priest, who, at 
 other times, w’as bound to give low^ly obedience to his 
 sovereign lord. It w^as but a simple port that Elijah 
 
20G 
 
 READINGS tO.{ A MONTiR 
 
 carried in the world, who, after that astonishing won- 
 der of fetching down • fire and water from Heaven, 
 thought it no abasement to be Ahab’s lackey from Car- 
 mel to Jezreel ; yet Obadiah, who was high steward to 
 the king of Israel, even that day could fall on his face 
 to him, and say, “Art thou that my lord, Elijah?” 
 And the practice of the godly emperors in the Christian 
 Church, through all the succession of ages, hath not sa- 
 voured of less regard to God’s minister. There is, in- 
 deed, so close and indissoluble a relation between 
 Christ and His messengers, that their mutual interest 
 can never be severed. What prince doth not hold him- 
 self concerned in the honours or affronts that are done 
 "to his ambassadors? Those keys which God hath 
 committed to the hands of His ministers lock them so 
 fast to Him that no power can separate them ; but still 
 that word must stand fast in Heaven, “ He that despiseth 
 you despiseth Me.” 
 
 But the most proper and pregnant proof of this 
 Fear of God, is the fear of offending God. A Christian 
 that fears God, dares not, cannot, but make conscience 
 of all his ways; He dares not defraud or lie for an 
 advantage ; he dares not swear falsely for a world ; he 
 dares not turn away his own face from the poor*, much 
 less dares he grind theirs : in one word, he dares rather 
 die than sin. 
 
 Who, now, would not be-in love with this Fear? 
 “ Oh, fear the Lord, ye His Saints ; he that feai’s Him 
 shall lack nothing.” “ The Angels of the Lord are 
 ever about him;” “his soul shall dwell at ease” here 
 below, and above Salvation is near unto him ; yea ! he 
 is already possessed of Life and Glory.” 
 
IIEVERENCE* 
 
 201 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, dec. 
 
 Consider what your manner is whenever you go into a 
 church; whetlier you recollect AVhose House it is. It is a 
 good habit to recall this thought to yourself by some few 
 words of mental prayer, as soon as you enter the building, 
 though you may not be intending to join in any religious 
 service. 
 
 Think whether you allow yourself to speak loudly in 
 a churcli, or to make remarks wliich may excite laughter in 
 others. 
 
 Think whether you are reverent in your treatment of the 
 Bible ; whether before you begin to read you try to remem^ 
 ber Whose Word it is ; whether you allow it to lie about like . 
 any other book. It is very unfitting to pile other books upon 
 a Bible, as many persons do without thought. 
 
 Recollect whether you ever use careless expressions and% 
 exclamations, though you may not actually take God’s Holy 
 Name in vain. 
 
 Think whether you endeavour to collect your thoughts 
 before you pray, and whether by irreverent haste or neglect 
 you ever use words which you do not mean. 
 
 Think whether you are respectful in your manner of ad- 
 dressing Clergymen, and in speaking of them, reveren- 
 cing their office, though you may not always like them in 
 themselves. 
 
 PRAYERS. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, Ac. 
 
 O Great God, and King of Heaven and earth ! Who sit- 
 test between the Cherubims, in Whose Sanctuary is power, 
 and honour, before Whose Presence is glory and worship, 
 give unto me. Thy servant, an awful apprehension of the 
 sanctity of Thy Name, which is Great, Wonderful, and 
 Holy. 
 
 Teach me in all addresses of my devotion, and in all 
 places appointed for Thy service, by all reverence and holi- 
 ness of soul and bod}^ to express the greatness of Thy Power 
 
208 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 and my weakness, the distance of God and man, of finite 
 and infinite. Make me to read Thy Holy Word with the 
 spirit of awe and obedience; to reverence Thy ministers, and 
 all that appertaineth to Thy service: grant that the awfulness 
 of Thy dread Majesty may check in me every irreverent ges- 
 ture and thought; And teach me. Lord, so to approach Thee 
 in humility and fear, that, being taught by the Fear of Thee 
 to keep thy testimonies, and never to forget Thy law, I may 
 be delivered from Thy wrath and punishment, and may at 
 last praise Thee upon Thy Holy hill in Thine everlasting Hab* 
 itation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, Ac. 
 
OBEDIENCE. 
 
 “ Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as 
 in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, 
 and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witch- 
 craft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” — 1 Sam. xv. 22, 23. 
 
 “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath com- 
 manded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with 
 thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”— Debt. v. 16. 
 
 “ Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father, and keep my Sab- 
 baths. I am the Lord your God.” — Lev. xix. 8. 
 
 “ The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, 
 the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat 
 it.” — Prov. XXX. 17. 
 
 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no 
 power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, 
 therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God : and they 
 that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” — Kom. xiii. 1, 2. 
 
 “Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
 conscience’ sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also ; for they are God’s 
 ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Bender, therefore, 
 to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom 
 custom; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom honour,” — Rom. xiii. 5 — 7. 
 
 “ Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, es- 
 pecially they Avho labour in the word and doctrine.” — 1 Tim. v. 17. 
 
 In the world nothing Is more easy than to say our 
 prayers, and to obey our superiors; and yet in the 
 world there is nothing to which we are so unwilling as 
 to prayer, and nothing seems so intolerable as obedience, 
 for men esteem all laws to be fetters, and their superiors 
 are their enemies; and when a command is given, we 
 turn into all shapes of excuse to escape from the impo- 
 sition: for either the authority is incompetent, or the 
 
210 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 law itself is not good ; or it is impossible to be kept, or 
 at least very inconvenient, and we are to be relieved in 
 equity ; or it does not bind in my particular case, or 
 not now. Thus every man “ snuffs up the wind, like 
 the wild asses in the wilderness,” and thinks that au- 
 thority is an encroachment upon his birthright; and in 
 the mean time never considers that Christ took upon 
 Him our nature, that He might learn us obedience, and 
 in that also make us become like unto God. He was 
 pleased, at a great rate, to set forward this duty; and 
 when Himself became obedient in the hardest point — 
 obedient unto death,” and is now become the Author 
 and Finisher of our obedience, as well as our faith, we 
 must needs confess it very possible to obey the severest 
 of the Divine laws, even to die if God commands. 
 
 And this great example is of universal influence in 
 the whole matter of obedience, for Christ did obey and 
 suffer according to the commands of His superiors, un- 
 der whose government He was j)laced. He kept the 
 orders of the rulers, and the customs of the synagogues, 
 the law of Moses and the rites of the temple ; and by 
 so doing he fulfilled all righteousness. Christ made no 
 distinction in His obedience ; but obeyed God “ in all 
 things,” and those that God set over him ‘‘ in all things 
 according to God,” and in things of religion most of all : 
 because to obey was of itself a great instance of religion ; 
 and if ever religion comes to be pretended against obe- 
 dience, in any thing where our superior can command, 
 it is imposture. 
 
 But what if we suppose that our princes or our pre- 
 lates command things against the law of our God ? 1 
 
OBEDIENCE. 
 
 211 
 
 answer, tliat if we tliink so, and think true, we must not 
 obey our superiors in that ; but because most men that 
 think so, think amiss, there are many particulars fit by 
 such persons to be considered. 
 
 Let such men think charitably of others, and that 
 all are not fools or madmen who are not of the same 
 opinion with themselves or their own little party. Let 
 him think himself as fallible and subject to mistake as 
 other men are; from whence it will naturally follow 
 that he ought to consider his opinion lo be uncertain, and 
 that he ouo;ht not to behave himself like the man that 
 ^’s too confident; but because his obedience is duty, and 
 his duty certain, he will find it more wise, and safe, and 
 holy, to leave that which is disputable, and pursue that 
 which is demonstrable, to change his uncertain opinion 
 for his certain duty ; for it is twenty to one but he is 
 deceived in his opinion : but if he be, it is certain that, 
 whatsoever his conscience be, yet, in his separation from 
 authority, he is a sinner. 
 
 But you say, that “ this concerns not me ; for my 
 disagreeing is not in a doubtful matter, but I am sure I 
 am in the right ; there are no if 8 and ands in my 
 case.” Well, it may be so : but were it not better that 
 you did doubt ? “ A wise man feareth,” saith Solomon, 
 
 ‘‘ and departeth from evil ; but a fool rages and is con- 
 fident and the ditferenee between a learned man and a 
 novice is this, that the young fellow crieth out, “ I am 
 sure it is so ;” the better learned answers, “ Possibly it 
 may, and perad venture it is so, but I pray , inquire.” 
 He is the best judge that conjectures best, not he that 
 is most confident. It is a little learnin<T, and not 
 
212 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 enongli, that makes men conclude hastily, and clap fast 
 hold on the conclusions before they have well weighed 
 the premises ; but experience and humility would teach 
 us modesty and fear. And let me add this, that when 
 a man distrusts his superior, and trusts himself, if he 
 misses truth, it will be greatly imputed to him : but, on 
 the other side, if he obey authority, and yet be deceived, 
 he is greatly excused ; he erred on the safe side, he is 
 defended by the hands of many virtues, and gets peace 
 and love of the congregation. 
 
 You see the blessings of obedience in the questions 
 and matters of religion to all, but there is something 
 more to say : in especial, as regards the duty of the 
 young. Christ obeyed God in all things. “ He went 
 down,” we are told, with his parents “ to Nazareth, and 
 was subject unto them.” And this duty of subjection 
 to our parents is made as necessary and as absolute as 
 it can be by some great consideration. 
 
 There are but two things in the world required to 
 make obedience necessary, — the worthiness of the thing, 
 and the greatness of the authority ; and our parents are 
 to us in the place of God, and therefore it is impiety to 
 dishonour or disobey them. Next to God, is our duty to 
 our father. 
 
 Gratitude also hath the greatest obligation as re- 
 gards duty, obedience, and regard to parents, and is to 
 this purpose remarked by all laws and by all wise men 
 of the world. All their love and all their care is for 
 their child. The child is a part of his parents, a tender 
 part; and the father’s sins are punished, when the 
 child is made sick oi’ unfortunate. 
 
OBEDIENCE. 
 
 213 
 
 God hath also given a power of blessing and cursing 
 to parents, which Himself by His Providence will verify. 
 “ The father’s blessing establisheth the houses of chil- 
 dren, but the cui*se of the mother rooteth out all foun- 
 dation!” saith Ben Siracln And St. Paul, exhorting 
 children to obey their parents, says, “ It is the first 
 Commandment with promise,” that is, the first to which 
 any special promise is annexed, — the promise of longev- 
 ity in the land of promise. 
 
 But it is observable that the original word in the 
 fifth Commandment is of active signification, “ Honour 
 thy father and thy mother, that they may prolong thy 
 days upon the earth ; ” that is, thy parents are God’s 
 ministers and instruments, the channels and conveyance 
 of the Divine Blessing ; for God hears the prayers of 
 fathers and mothers, blessing their obedient children, or 
 cursing their disobedience, insomuch that Ezekiel reck- 
 ons their disobedience to their parents to be to the Jews 
 the cause of their banishment from their own country. 
 “ In thee,” that is, in Jerusalem, “ have they set light 
 by father and mother.” The curses of parents are 
 grievous upon the earth ; and this was observed even 
 amongst the heathen. This was it that brought servi- 
 tude or slavery into the world : God having in one of 
 the fountains of mankind, in the great patriarch of the 
 world, consigned a sad example, that for ever children 
 should be afraid to dishonour their parents, and reveal 
 their turpitudes, their follies, and dishonours. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, can be signified by honour, 
 and fear, and reverence, is the duty of children ; that is, 
 to think honourably of their parents, to speak well of 
 
214 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 them, to conceal their faults, to excuse them to others, 
 to comport themselves with reverence and great regard 
 before them. “ Above all things, have your parents in 
 honour,” says a Greek writer ; and this is to be ex- 
 pressed according as the parents shall require, and ac- 
 cording to the customs of the nation, and the most pious 
 and obedient in it. “ A child may be rude and undu- 
 tiful in his very looks,’^ was an old rule ; and “ he de- 
 serves to be punished with blindness,” saith St. Jerome, 
 “ who, by proud looks and scornful eyes, is impious to 
 his parents.” Children must be subject to their 
 parents without malice or perverseness, and in all sim- 
 plicity,” that is, ingenuousness of words and manners. 
 And when Ptolemy asked one of the seventy-two trans- 
 lators of the Bible, how a son should pay due thankful- 
 ness to his parents, he was answered, “ If you grieve 
 them in nothing.” That is the surest measure. But 
 we find amongst the ancients some little instances of 
 this honour and reverence, besides obedience, specified. 
 The ancients would not without leave go from the pre- 
 sence of their father. They would not conceal from 
 their parents the intercourses and accidents of their 
 youth, their designs of marriage, their little plans and 
 advantages or disadvantages; and they accounted it 
 part of the honour due to their parents, to tell them 
 truth in all things where they were interrogated or sus- 
 pected ; for he that lies before his father, dishonours him, 
 and commits two sins, — he transgresses two com- 
 mandments. Again, that children are to submit to the 
 animadversions and chastisements of their parents is the 
 voice of nature, and of all nations, of Scripture and 
 
OBEDIENCE. 
 
 215 
 
 rioflit reason. So St. Paul : “We have had fathers of 
 our llesh which corrected us, and we gave them reve- 
 rence ; ” and Ben Sirach teaches us, “ Honour thy father 
 in thy work and in thy word, and in all patience ; ” and 
 this was it which the young Greek that Plutarch 
 speaks of, had learned in Zeno’s School : “ I have learn- 
 ed,” saith he, “ patiently to bear my father’s anger.” 
 
 Even if a father commands an unjust thing, his au- 
 thority is not wholly nothing ; for though it must not 
 be obeyed, yet it must not be dishonoured, nor yet re- 
 jected, but with great regard. “ What is not fit to be 
 obeyed must be declined and avoided, rather than railed 
 at and rejected with reproach. When a son denies his 
 father, he must do it with the language of obedience. 
 For whatsoever the command be, yet the authority is 
 venerable. If the command be unholy, yet the person 
 is sacred. 
 
 It is not lawful for children to take upon them any 
 religious vows, or enter into any of those which are 
 called states of religion, namely, to take upon them the 
 state of single life, to be priests, monks, or any thing of 
 the like nature,’ without the consent of their parents. It 
 is but a fair pretence to say we act for God and religion, 
 and that religion in all things is to be preferred. A 
 man may greatly serve God, and yet never be a |)riest ; 
 and it is certain that no state of perfection can be set 
 forward by doing ill ; and he enters ill into the state of 
 perfection that passes into it by the door of undutiful- 
 ness. 
 
 Pretence of the Divine service is no good warranty 
 for disobedience to parents ; and they who so neglect 
 
216 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 their father’s blessing, will meet with the curse of their 
 mother. 
 
 Many remarkable examples there are which abun- 
 dantly conclude this duty. We hear of one who in 
 ancient days was made a monk, not against his father’s 
 commandment, but against his counsel. The father 
 was very unwilling, but durst not expressly forbid it; 
 but because he had neglected his father’s counsel, and 
 caused trouble to him, a grievous punishment befell 
 him, and St. Chrysostom took great pains to comfort 
 him. 
 
 So likewise it is unlawful for children to marry, 
 without and against the counsel of their parents ; and 
 if the parents have consented and authorized the treaty 
 of marriage till the affections are irrevocably engaged, 
 and afterwards retract their consent, the first liberty 
 did not let them loose from duty; but if the parties 
 can well retire, they are to abide there where they were — 
 unless, I say, by that first leave they are passed beyond 
 a fair return, or cannot honestly or decently recede. 
 
 Lastly, let it be remembered that, although in the 
 civil law children are not in their mother's power, but 
 in their father’s, yet the same duty is owing to both 
 parents. 
 
 It becomes the piety of children to endeavour that 
 their mother be pleased, for to her also there is the 
 same natural relation, obligation and minority. And 
 however things were in the laws of the heathen, yet by 
 the law of nature, mothers, who have so great an affec- 
 tion to their children, and so great an interest in their 
 manners, must with duty and tenderness be regarded 
 
OBEDIENCE. 
 
 21Y 
 
 like the fathers. Every child would do well to remem- 
 ber this obligation to his mother, and consider that he 
 can never be quit from reverence and duty, piety, and 
 greatest and kindest regard. As St. Chrysostom said in 
 his own case, when he had a mind to enter into a mon- 
 astery, his mother recalled him, or rather the Voice of 
 God, crying, “ Son, remember thy mother Anthusa,” 
 and grieve her not so long as she lives ; for there is a 
 secret veneration due to the very name of a mother. 
 
 So much, and more, is to be said for that part of 
 the duty of obedience which concerns the young ; but 
 would we know the value of the virtue to all, we may 
 remember that obedience is the formality of all virtues, 
 and every sin is disobedience ; that obedience is a not 
 choosing our duty, a not disputing with our betters, not 
 to argue, not to delay, not to murmur. And it is not 
 only this, but it is much better : for it is love, and sim- 
 plicity, and humility, and awfulness : and I think that 
 in these may be contained all that is excellent in the 
 whole congregation of Christian graces. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutio7is, &c. 
 
 Consider whether you are apt to be confident in your 
 own opinion, asserting facts strongly, and unwilling to own 
 yourself in the wrong. This may in the end lead to dis- 
 obedience to authority. 
 
 Disobedience to parents or to those in authority is very 
 common amongst young persons who are just escaping from 
 the restraints of childhood. Ask yourself therefore whether 
 you are careful to obey the wishes of your parents, and of 
 those set over you, as well as their direct commands. 
 
 Think whether 3mu are alwa^^s respectful and obedient 
 in manner as well as in words, especially when reproved. 
 
 10 
 
218 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Think whether you endeavour to the utmost to follow 
 the advice of your parents, or whether you treat it as you 
 would*that of an indifferent person, which you are at liberty 
 to choose or reject. 
 
 Think whether you always speak of them with reverence, 
 and remember that we cannot err on the side of too great 
 respect towards our parents ; whilst a fault of disobedience 
 or want of respect brings its punishment even in this world. 
 When our parents lie in their graves, it is with a bitter 
 anguish that we remember the times when we have grieved 
 them. 
 
 PRATER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord and Blessed Saviour, Jesus, by Whose obedience 
 many were made righteous, grant that my love to Thee and 
 the sense of my own unworthiness, may make me humbly to 
 distrust my own judgment, and dutifully to submit to my 
 superiors, upon whom the impresses of Thy authority are 
 set by Thine own Hand. Let me never refuse their injunc- 
 tions, nor choose mine own work, nor pretend difficulties or 
 impossibilities, but enable me to reverence their persons, 
 and submit cheerfully to all their lawful commands. Teach 
 me especially to honour my parents in word and in deed, 
 seeking their blessing with all humility; and grant that my 
 obedience being united to Thy Obedience, I may have my 
 portion in the glories of Thy Kingdom, O Lord and Blessed 
 Saviour, Jesus. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, tfec. 
 
HUMILITY. 
 
 “ If th«re be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of lov-e, 
 if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my 
 joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, 
 of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but in low- 
 liness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not 
 every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of 
 others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; who, 
 being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; but 
 made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, 
 and was made in the likeness of man : and being found in fashion as a 
 man. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the Cross. Wherefbre God also hath highly exalted Him, and 
 given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus 
 every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and thing in earth, and things 
 under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is 
 Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” — Phil. ii. 1 — 11, 
 
 Humility is the great ornament and jewel of Chris- 
 tian religion, that whereby it is distinguished from all 
 the wisdom of tlie world ; it not having been taught by 
 the wise men of the Gentiles, but first put into a dis- 
 cipline, and made part of a religion, by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who propounded Himself imitable by His dis- 
 ciples so signally in nothing as in the twin-sisters of 
 Meekness and Humility : “ Learn of me, for I am meek 
 and humble ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” 
 
 When God descended to earth. He chose to be born 
 in the suburbs and retirement of a small town ; but He 
 was pleased to die at Jerusalem, the metropolis of Ju- 
 
220 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 daea ; which chides our shame and pride, who are will- 
 ing to publish our gaieties in piazzas and the cornei-s of the 
 streets of riiost populous places ; but our defects, and 
 the instruments of our humiliation, we carry into deserts^ 
 and cover with the night, and hide them under ground, 
 thinking no secrecy dark enough to hide our shame, nor 
 any theatre large enough to behold our pompous vani- 
 ties : for so we make provisions for pride, and take great 
 care to exclude humility. 
 
 Yet all the world, all that we are, and all that we 
 have, our bodies and our souls, our actions and our suf- 
 ferings, our conditions at home, our accidents abroad, 
 our many sins and our seldom virtues, are as so many 
 arguments to make our souls dwell low in the deep val- 
 leys of humility. 
 
 Our body is weak and impure, our strength is infe- 
 rior to that of many beasts, our beauty is in colour in- 
 ferior to many flowers ; and when it is most florid and 
 gay, three fits of an ague can change it into yellowness 
 and leanness, and the hollowness and wrinkles of de- 
 formity. Our learning is so long in getting, and so 
 very imperfect, that the greatest clerk knows not the 
 thousandth part of what he is ignorant; and to be 
 proud of learning is the gmatest ignorance in the 
 world. And if a man be exalted by reason of any ex- 
 cellence in his soul, he may please to remember, that 
 all souls are equal ; and their diftering operations are 
 because their instrument is in better tune, their body is 
 more healtliful, or better tempered ; which is no more 
 praise to him, than it is that he was born in Italy. 
 
 He that is proud of his riches is a fool. For if he 
 
HUMILITY. 
 
 221 
 
 be exalted above his neighbours because he hath more 
 gold, how much inferior is he to a gold mine. He 
 that is proud of his birth is proud of the blessings of 
 others, not himself. Whatsoever other difference there 
 is between thee and thy neighbours, if it be bad, it is 
 thine own ; but thou hast no reason to boast of thy 
 misery and shame ; if it be good, thou hast received it 
 from God ; and then thou art more obliged to pay duty 
 and tribute, use and principal, to Him ; and it were a 
 strange folly for a man to be proud of being more in 
 debt than another. If we need more incentives to the 
 practice of this grace, we may remember that humility 
 is truth, and pride is a lie ; that the one glorifies God, 
 the other dishonours Him ; humility makes men like 
 angels, pride makes angels to become devils. 
 
 Humility makes saints on earth. It is the parent 
 of meekness, the most excellent natural cure for anger. 
 He that, by daily considering his own infirmities and 
 failings, makes the error of his neighbour to be his own 
 case, and remembers that he daily needs God’s pardon 
 and his brother’s charity, will not be apt to rage at the 
 levities, or misfortunes, or indiscretions of another ; 
 greater than which he considers that he is very fre- 
 quently and more inexcusably guilty of. But remem- 
 ber that humility consists not in railing against thyself, 
 wearing mean clothes, or going softly and submissively, 
 but in hearty and real evil or mean opinion of thyself. 
 Believe thyself an unworthy person heartily, as thou be- 
 lievest thyself to be hungry, or poor, or sick, when thou 
 art so : and whatsoever evil thou sayest of thyself, be 
 content that others should think to be true ; and if thou 
 
222 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 callest thyself fool, be not angry if another say so of 
 thee. He is an hypocrite that accuses himself before 
 others, with an intent not to be believed. Love to be 
 concealed, and little esteemed : be content to want 
 praise, never being troubled when thou art slighted or 
 undervalued ; for thou canst not undervalue thyself, and 
 if thou thinkest so meanly as there is reason, no con- 
 tempt will seem unreasonable, and therefore it will be 
 very tolerable. Never be ashamed of thy birth, or thy 
 parents, or thy trade, or thy present employment, for 
 the meanness or poverty of any of them ; and when 
 there is an occasion to speak of them, such an occasion as 
 would invite you to speak of anything that pleases you, 
 omit it not, but speak as readily and indifferently of thy 
 meanness as of thy greatness. 
 
 Never speak anything directly tending to thy praise 
 or glory ; that is, with a purpose to be commended, and 
 for no other end. If other ends be mingled with thy 
 honour, as if the glory of God, or charity, or necessity, 
 or anything of prudence be thy end, you are not tied to 
 omit your discourse or your design, that you may avoid 
 praise, but pursue your end though praise come along 
 in the company. Only let not praise be the design. 
 
 Take no content with praise when it is offered thee ; 
 but let thy rejoicing in God’s gift be allayed with fear, 
 lest this good bring thee to evil. Use your praise as 
 you do your pleasure in eating and drinking. If it 
 comes, make it do drudgery ; let it serve other ends, 
 and minister to necessities, and to caution, lest, by 
 pride, you lose your just praise which you have deserved. 
 Use no stratagems and devices to get praise. Some 
 
HUMILITY. 
 
 223 
 
 use to inquire into the faults of their own actions or dis- 
 courses, on purpose to hear that it was well done or 
 spoken, and without fault. Others bring the matter 
 into talk, or thrust themselves into company, and in- 
 timate and give occasion to be thought or spoken of. 
 
 Please not thyself, when thou art disgraced or 
 slighted, with supposing thou didst deserve praise, though 
 they understood thee not, or enviously detracted from 
 thee ; neither do thou get to thyself a private theatre 
 and flatterers, in whose vain noises and fantastic praises 
 thou mayest keep up thine own good opinion of thy- 
 self. Entertain no fancies of vanity and private whis- 
 pers of this devil of pride. Some fantastic spirits will 
 walk alone, and dream waking of greatnesses, of palaces, 
 of excellent orations, full theatres, loud applauses, sud- 
 den advancement, great fortunes, and so will spend an 
 hour with imaginative pleasures ; all these employ- 
 ments being nothing but fumes of pride, and secret in- 
 definite desires and significations of what their heart 
 wishes, and therefore at no hand consisting with the 
 safety and interests of humilty. Suffer others to be 
 praised in thy presence, and entertain their good and 
 glory with delight ; but at no hand disparage them, or 
 lessen the report, or make an objection : and think not 
 the advancement of thy brother as a lessening of thy 
 worth ; rather be content that he should be employed, 
 and thou laid by as unprofitable ; his sentence approved, 
 thine rejected ; he be preferred, and thou fixed in a low 
 employment. 
 
 "N’ever compare thyself with others, unless it be to 
 depress thyself. To which purpose, we must be sure, 
 
224 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 in some sense or other, to think ourselves the worst in 
 every company where we come. One is more learned 
 than I am, another is more prudent, a third more hon- 
 ourable, a fourth more chaste, or he is more charitable 
 or less proud. For the humble man observes their good, 
 and reflects only on his own vileness, or considers the many 
 evils of himself certainly known to himself, and the ill 
 of others but by an uncertain report ; or he considers 
 that the evils done by another are out of much infirmity 
 or ignorance, but his own sins are against a clearer 
 light ; and if the other had so great help, he would have 
 done more good and less evil. 
 
 But this rule is to be used with this caution, that 
 though it be good always to think meanest of ourselves, 
 yet it is not always safe to speak it; because those cir- 
 cumstances and considerations which determine thy 
 thoughts, are not known to others as to thyself ; and it 
 may concern others, that they hear thee give God thanks 
 for the grace He hath given thee. But if thou preserv- 
 est thy thoughts and opinions of thyself truly humble, 
 you may with more safety give God thanks in public 
 for that good which cannot, and ought not to be con- 
 cealed. 
 
 Be not always ready to excuse every oversight, or 
 indiscretion, or ill action ; but if thou be guilty of it, 
 confess it plainly, and accustom thyself to bear reproof 
 patiently and contentedly, and the harsh words of thy 
 enemies, as knowing that the anger of an enemy is a 
 better monitor, and represents our faults, or admonishes 
 us of our duty with more heartiness, than the kindness 
 does, or precious balms of a friend. 
 
MUMlLlxr. 
 
 225 
 
 Give God thanks for every weakness, deformity, and 
 imperfection, and accept it as a favour and grace of 
 God, and an instrument to resist pride and rouse huraili- 
 ty ; ever remembering that when God, by giving thee a 
 crooked back, hath also made thy spirit stoop or less vain, 
 thou art more ready to enter the narrow gate of Heaven, 
 than by being straight, and standing upright, and think- 
 ing liighly. 
 
 Make confession of thy sins often to God ; and con- 
 sider what all that evil amounts to which you then 
 charge upon yourself. 
 
 Look not upon thy sins as scattered in the course of 
 a long life ; now, an intemperate anger, then too full a 
 meal ; now idle talking, and another time impatience ; 
 but unite them into one continued representation ; and 
 remember that he whose life seems fair, by reason that 
 his faults are scattered at large distances in the several 
 parts of his life, yet, if all his errors and follies were ar- 
 ticled against him, the man would seem vicious and 
 miserable : and possibly this exercise, really applied 
 upon thy spirit, may be useful. 
 
 Every day call to mind some one of thy foulest sins, 
 or the most shameful of thy disgraces, or the indiscreet- 
 est of thy actions, or any thing that did then most 
 trouble thee, and apply it to the present swelling of thy 
 spirit and opinion, and then it may help to allay it. 
 Pray often for God’s grace with all humility of ges- 
 ture and passion of desire ; and in thy devotion inter- 
 pose many acts of humility, by way of confession and 
 address to God, and reflection upon thyself. 
 
 Avoid great offices and employments, and the noise 
 10 * 
 
226 
 
 HEADINGS EOR A MONTH. 
 
 of worldly honour, and be thou very careful lest thoU 
 be abused by a pretence that thou wouldest use thy 
 great dignity as an opportunity of doing great good. 
 Certain it is, God is as much glorified by thy example 
 of humility in a low or temperate condition, as by thy 
 bounty in a great or dangerous. 
 
 Make no reflex acts upon thy own humility, nor 
 upon any other grace with which God hath enriched 
 thy soul ; and if thou beholdest a grace of God in thee, 
 remember to give Him thanks for it, that thou mayest 
 not boast in that which is none of thy own : and con- 
 sider how thou hast sullied it, by handling it with dirty 
 fingers, with thy own imperfections, and with mixture 
 of unhandsome circumstances. Spiritual pride is very 
 dangerous, not only by reason it spoils so many graces, 
 by which we draw nigh unto the Kingdom of God, but 
 also because it so frequently creeps upon the Spirit of 
 holy persons. 
 
 Never change thy employment for the sudden com- 
 ing of another to thee ; but if modesty permits, or dis- 
 cretion, appear to him that visits thee the same that 
 thou wert to God and thyself in thy privacy. But 
 if thou wert walking or sleeping, or in any other inno- 
 cent employment or retirement, snatch not up a book 
 to seem studious, nor fall on thy knees to seem devout, 
 nor alter any thing to make him believe thee better 
 employed than thou wert. 
 
 Above all, remember that the Blessed Saviour of 
 the World hath done more to prescribe, and transmit, 
 and secure this grace, than any other; His whole life 
 being a gi’eat continued example of humility, a vast 
 
ii utility. 
 
 227 
 
 rlescent from the glorious bosom of His Father to the 
 womb of a poor maiden, to the form of a servant, to the 
 miseries of a sinner, to a life of labour, to a state of 
 poverty, to a death of malefactors, to the grave of death, 
 and the intolerable calamities which we deserved : and 
 It were a good design, and yet but reasonable, that we 
 should be as humble in the midst of our greatest im- 
 perfections and basest sins, as Christ was in the midst of 
 His fulness of the Spirit, great wisdom, perfect life, and 
 most admirable virtues. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Esiaminution^ Resolutions, <kc. 
 
 Recall to mind the principal faults of which you are 
 aware, and ask yourself whether you could patiently bear to 
 be told of them by persons whom you respect and love. This 
 would be but the beginning of the virtue of humility A 
 thoroughly humble person Would patiently bear to be told 
 of his faults even in an insulting way ; but this degree of 
 meekness is only to be acquired by constant prayer and un- 
 ceasing self-control. 
 
 Think whether a proud spirit does not make you irritable, 
 impetuous, impatient of contradiction. 
 
 Think whether, when a temptation presents itself to boast 
 of any advantages of birth, station, talent, &c., you are in the 
 habit of giving way at the moment, and repenting after- 
 wards. Persons often deceive themselves when they wish to 
 make an observation of the kind, by fancying they have a 
 reason for it: perhaps it seems to come naturally, or there 
 may be a pause in the conversation, and they do not know 
 what else to say, or they hear others make similar remarks, 
 and so are induced to think themselves too particular ; but 
 all these are suggestions to act against our conscience, which 
 must be repelled. 
 
 Think whether you shrink from acknowledging any disad- 
 vantages in your position in life, poverty, low connections, 
 
22 & 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Think whether it is very difficult to 3 ^ou to be humble-— 
 whether conceited thoughts are not often presenting them- 
 selves to your mind. We are not truly humble until humil- 
 ity ceases to be an effort. 
 
 Consider whether you indulge in proud thoughts about 
 the worldly advantages of your relations, their rank, or 
 wealth, or influence, or talent^ and whether you dwell with 
 pleasure upon the flattering speeches made to yourself, re- 
 peating them to yourself again, or imagining yourself in 
 situations in which you would be likely to receive them. 
 
 It may be well to remember that Humility, though the 
 basis of all the Christian virtues, is the most difficult to be 
 acquired in perfection. We must expect, thei-efore, to make 
 what will seem slow progress, and must not indulge ourselves 
 by dragging up our plant from the ground to see what root 
 it has taken. It will grow intensely, not so much by making 
 a direct effort to foster it, as by checking every thing thai 
 would destroy it. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty Grod, Pitiful and Gracious, <fee. 
 
 Merciful Saviour, who didst humble Thyself to our state 
 of misery that thou mightest give us Thy Mercy, and recon- 
 cile us to Thy Father, give me, I beseech Thee, great humili- 
 ty of spirit;, take from me all pride of heart, impatience of 
 contradiction or reproof, envy, ambition, and vanity. Teacl> 
 me to despise flattery, and willingly to acknowledge my 
 faults. Let me never seek the applause of men,, or entertain 
 their praise with delight > but as thou, O Lord, didst triumph 
 over sin and death, subdue also my proud understanding, 
 and my prouder affections, and bring me under Thy yoke 
 that I may da Thy -work, and obey my superiors, and be a 
 servant of my brethren in all their necessities, and esteem 
 myself inferior to all men, by a deep sense of my own un- 
 worthiness, that humbling myself with Thee here, I may 
 reign with Thee in glary hereafter, 0 Merciful and Gracious 
 Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 * I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing : fof 
 to will is present with me ; but bow to perform that which is good I find 
 not.” — R om. vii. 18. 
 
 “ Oh ! wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of 
 this death ? ” — Rom. vii. 24. 
 
 “ I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”— Rom. vii. 25. 
 
 “ For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
 from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that iC 
 was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sin- 
 ful flesh, and f )r sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the nghteousness of the 
 law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit 
 For they that are after the flesh do mind the thing.sof the flesh ; but they 
 that are afrer the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded 
 is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” — E om. viii. 2 — 6. 
 
 “ Brethren we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh ; for 
 if ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mor- 
 tify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the 
 Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God.” — Rom. viii. 12, 13, 14. 
 
 “ The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suflering, gentleness, 
 goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” — Gal. v. 92., 
 
 ‘‘For the good that I would, I do not : hut the evil 
 which I would not, that I do.” 
 
 Does St. Paul mean this of himself or of some 
 other? It is hoped that he speaks it of himself; and 
 means, that thoiio^h his understandino: is convinced that 
 he ought to serve God, and that he hath some im|jferfect 
 desires to do so, yet the law of God without is opposed 
 by a law within. We have, we say, a corrupted na- 
 ture, and a body of infirmity, and our reason dwells in 
 
2B0 
 
 READINGS EOFi A MONTH. 
 
 the dark, and we must go out of the world before we 
 leave our sin. Men think they are like to be undone 
 by innocence, and they can in no way live but by com- 
 pliance with the evil customs of the world ; therefore 
 they conclude practically, because they must live, they 
 must sin. They must live handsomely, and therefore 
 must do something unhandsomely, and so, upon the 
 whole matter, sin is unavoidable. Fain they would, but 
 they cannot tell how to help it I But since it is no bet- 
 ter, it is well it is no worse. For in St. Paul’s case — - 
 no worse man — he would, and he would not, he did 
 and he did not ; he was willing, but he was not able ; 
 and therefore the case is clear, that if a man strives 
 against sin, and falls unwillingly, it shall not be imput- 
 ed to him. 
 
 If this be true, God will be very ill served. If it be 
 not true, most men will have but small hopes of 
 being saved, because this is the condition of most men. 
 What then is to be done ? Truth can do us no hurt, and 
 therefore we may be willing to let this matter pass un- 
 der examination, for if it trouble us now, it will bring 
 comfort hereafter. 
 
 Let us first consider the state of the man of whom 
 St. Paul speaks here, and who it is that is in this state 
 of sad things; then may we make our resolutions ac- 
 cording as we shall find it necessary for the saving of 
 our souls. 
 
 The man St. Paul speaks of, is one that is “ dead,” 
 one that was ‘‘ deceived ” and “ slain,” one who is “ car- 
 nal,” and sold under sin ; he is one that sins against 
 his conscience and his reason ; ” he is one in whom 
 
feELr-CONTROL. 
 
 231 
 
 “ sin dwells,’^ but the Spirit of God does not dwell, for 
 no good thing dwells in him ; he is one who is “ brought 
 into captivity to the law of sin ; ” he is a servant of un- 
 cleanness, with his ‘‘flesh and members serving the 
 law of sin.” Now if this be a state of regeneration, I 
 wonder what is, or can be, a state of reprobation ! for 
 though this be the state of nature, yet it cannot be the 
 state of one redeemed by the Spirit of Christ ; and there- 
 fore flatter not yourselves any more, that it is enough 
 to have good desires and bad performances ; never 
 think that sin can dwell in you, and at the same time 
 the Spirit of God can dwell in you too» “ If ye live 
 after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the 
 Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live 
 but not else upon any terms whatsoever. 
 
 And so St. Paul, immediately after describing the 
 state of a natural man, tells us plainly that he that is 
 redeemed by the blood of Christ is redeemed from the 
 power of sin. He that is Christ’s freed-man is not a 
 slave of sin, not captive to the devil at his will. He 
 that is in “ the flesh cannot please God,” but every ser- 
 vant of Christ is freed from sin, and is a “ servant of 
 righteousness,” and redeemed from all his “vain con- 
 versation : ” for this is the end of Christ’s cominof. 
 
 But how shall this come to pass, since we all find 
 ourselves so infinitely weak and foolish? I will tell 
 you. “ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
 of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the King- 
 dom of Heaven,” saith Christ. It is impossible to na- 
 ture ; it is impossible to them that are given to vanity ; 
 it is impossible to them that delight in the evil snare ; 
 
232 
 
 READINGS EOR A MONTH, 
 
 but Christ adds, “ With men this is impossible, but with 
 God all things are possible.” What we cannot do for 
 ourselves, God can do for us, and with us. What na- 
 ture cannot do, the grace of God can. So that the 
 thing may be done; not indeed by ourselves, but God 
 and man together can do it. 
 
 Let no man, therefore, please himself with talking 
 of great things ; he that does not practise as well as he 
 talks, and do what he desires, and what he ought to do, 
 confesses himself to sin greatly against his conscience; 
 and it is a prodigious folly to think that he is a good 
 man, because though he does sin, it was against his 
 mind to do so. Some men talk like angels, and pray 
 with great fervour, and speak to God with loving alFec* 
 tions, and when they go abroad are as passionate as 
 ever, proud as a barbarian prince, impatient of reproof, 
 scornful to their neighbours, lovers of money, supreme 
 in their own thoughts, and submit to none. All their 
 spiritual life they talk of is nothing but spiritual hincy 
 and illusion ; they are still under the power of their 
 passions, and their sin rules them imperiously, and car- 
 ries them away infallibly. 
 
 There is no necessity for all this ; it ought and it 
 may be otherwise if we please ; for, I pray, be pleased 
 to hear St. Paul : “ Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not 
 fulfil the lusts of the flesh : ” — there is your remedy. 
 Some men indeed cannot choose but sin ; but there are 
 also some men that cannot endure anything that is not 
 good : and this is agreeable to the words of our Blessed 
 Saviour: “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, 
 and a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.” We may 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 233 
 
 see something of this in common experiences. What 
 man of oi'dinary prudence and reputation can be temj)t- 
 ed to steal ? Or for what price would he be tempted 
 to murder his friend? If we did hate all sins as we 
 hate these, would it not be as easy to be as innocent in 
 other instances, as most men are in these? and we 
 should have as few drunkards as we have thieves. 
 
 Every good man overcomes all the power of great 
 sins. And are not the temptations to little sins very 
 little ? Are they greater and stronger than a mighty 
 grace? Could the poor demoniac that lived in the 
 graves, by the power of the devil break his iron chain 
 in pieces? and cannot he who hath the Spirit of God 
 dissolve the chains of sin ? “ Through Christ, that 
 
 strengthens me, I can do all things,” saith St. Paul. ‘‘If 
 God be for us, who can be against’ us ? ” And if we 
 were so wise and valiant as not to affright ourselves 
 with our own terrors, we should quickly find that by 
 the help of the Spirit of God we can do more than we 
 thought we could. 
 
 But men, in the matter of great sins and little, do 
 as the magicians of Egypt. When Moses turned his 
 rod into a serpent, it moved them not ; but when they 
 saw the lice and the flies, then they were afraid. We 
 see that, by the grace of God, we can escape great sins ; 
 but we start at flies, and a bird out of a bush disorders 
 us ; the lion in the way troubles us not, but a frog and 
 a worm affright us. Remember the saying of St. Paul, 
 “ Christ came to redeem to Himself a Church, and to 
 present it, pure and spotless, before the throne of grace.” 
 And if you mean to be of this number, you must en- 
 
234 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 deavour to be under this qualification ; that is, as St. Paul 
 laboured to be, “ void of offence, both towards God and 
 towards man.” 
 
 Yet there must be some allays in this doctrine, for 
 ‘‘ who can say that he is clear from his sin ? ” said the 
 wise man. 
 
 To this I answer, in the words of St. Gregory, “ All 
 men’s righteousness will be found to be unrighteous, if 
 God should severely enter into judgment ; ” but there- 
 fore, even after our innocence, we must pray for pardon, 
 that our innocence, which, in strictness of Divine judg- 
 ment, would be found spotted and stained, by the mercy 
 of our Saviour may be accepted. For as no man is so 
 much a sinner, but he sometimes speaks a good word, 
 or does some things not ill, and yet that little good inter- 
 cepts not that state of evil ; so it is amongst very good 
 men, from whom, sometimes, may pass something that 
 is not commendable ; and yet their heart is so habitu- 
 ally right towards God, that they will do nothing, — I do 
 not say which God, in justice, cannot, but which, in 
 mercy. He will not, impute to eternal condemnation. 
 The question is not, whether or no God could not, in 
 the rigour of justice, blame their indiscretion, or impute 
 a foolish word, or chide them for a hasty answer, or 
 a careless action, for a less devout prayer, or weak 
 hands, for a fearful heart, or a trembling faith. These 
 are not the measures by which God judges His child- 
 dren; “for He knoweth whereof we are made,” and He 
 remembers that we are but dust. He judges us by 
 Jesus Christ, that is, with the allays of mercy, with an 
 eye of pardon, with the sentences of a Father. God 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 235 
 
 could entefwitli us into a more severe judgment, but ho 
 Avould not; and no justice tied Him from exercising 
 that mercy. 
 
 A Christian’s innocence, therefore, is always to be 
 measured by the plain lines and measures of the Com- 
 mandments; but is not to be taken into account by 
 uncertain opinions, and the scruples of timorous per- 
 sons. If God did proceed against us as we do against 
 one another, no man could abide innocent for so much 
 as one hour. But God’s judgment is otherwise. He 
 inquires if the heart be right, if our labour be true, if 
 we love no sin, if we use prudent and efficacious mea- 
 sures to mortify our sin, if we go about our religion as 
 we go about the biggest concerns of our life, if we be 
 sincere and real in our actions and intentions. For this 
 it is that God requires of us all ; this is that “ sinless 
 state” in which if God does not find us, we shall never 
 see his glorious Face; and if He does find us, we shall 
 certainly be saved by the Blood of Jesus. For in the 
 style of Scripture, to be sincere, and to be without offence 
 is all one. This then is the general measure ; the par- 
 ticulars are briefly this: — 
 
 Every Christian is bound to arrive at that state, that 
 he have remaining in him no habits of any sin what- 
 ever. Our ‘‘old man” must be “crucified”; the body 
 of sin must be destroyed. These are the Apostle’s 
 words. 
 
 He that commits any one sin by choice and deliber- 
 ation, is an enemy to God, and is under the dominion 
 of the flesh. A sin chosen and deliberately done, ac- 
 cording to the expression of Tertullian, “ devours salva- 
 tion.” 
 
236 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Every Christian ought to attain to such a state of 
 life, as that, he never sin, not only by a long deliberation, 
 but also not by passion. I do not say that he is not a 
 good Christian, who by passion is suddenly surprised, 
 and falls into folly ; but this I say, that no passion ought 
 to make him choose a sin. For let the sin enter by an- 
 ger or desire, it is all one, if the consent be gained. It 
 is an ill sign if a man, though on a sudden, consents to 
 a base action. 
 
 There is one step more, which, if it be not actually 
 effected, it must, at least, be greatly endeavoured, and 
 the event be left to God ; and that is, that we strive for 
 so great a dominion over our sins, as that we be not 
 surprised on a sudden. This, indeed, is a work of time, 
 and it is well if it be ever done ; but it must always be 
 endeavoured. But in this particular, even good men 
 are sometimes unprosperous. St. Epiphanius and St. 
 Chrysostom grew once into choler, and they passed too 
 far, and lost more than their argument — they lost their 
 reason and their patience ; and Epiphanius wished that 
 St. Chrysostom might not die a bishop, and he, in a 
 peevish exchange, wished that Epiphanius might never 
 return to his bishoprick. When they had forgotten their 
 foolish anger, God remembered it, and said Amen to 
 both their cursed speakings. Nay, there is yet a great- 
 er example of human frailty : St. Paul and Barnabas 
 were very holy persons ; but once, in a heat, they were 
 both to blame ; they were peevish, and parted company. 
 This was not very much ; but God was so displeased, 
 even for this little “ fly ” in their “ box of ointment,” that 
 their story says, they never saw one another’s face again. 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 237 
 
 These sudden transportations of passsion do sometimes de- 
 clare the weakness of good men ; but that, even here, we 
 ouglit, at least, to endeavour to be more than conquei ors, 
 appears in this, bee mse God allows it not, and by punish- 
 ino^ such follies does manifest that He intends that we 
 should get victory over our sudden passions, as well as 
 our natural lusts. 
 
 And now we come to the last particular, which will 
 make all the rest practicable, — how all this can be ef- 
 fected, how we shall get free from the power and domin- 
 ion of our sins. 
 
 The first great instrument is faith. He that hath “ faith 
 like a grain of mustard seed,”, can “ remove mountains.” 
 The mountains of sin shall fall flat at the feet of the faith- 
 ful man, and shall be removed into the sea — the sea of 
 Christ’s Blood and of penitential waters. 
 
 The powers of sin seem insuperable to none, but to 
 them that have not faith. We do not believe that God^ 
 intends we should do what He seems to require of us ; 
 or else we think that the evil spirit is stronger than the 
 good Spirit of God. 
 
 Hear what St. John saith : My little children, ye 
 are of God, and have overcome the evil one ; for the 
 Spirit that is in you is greater than that which is in the 
 world.” Believest thou this ? If you do believe it, go 
 to your prayers, and go to your guards, and go to your 
 labour, and try what God will do for you. For “what- 
 soever things ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye 
 shall receive them, and ye shall have them.” Now con- 
 sider. Do not we every day pray, in the Divine hymn 
 called Te Deum, “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this 
 
238 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 day without sin ? ” and in the Collect at morning prayer, 
 and grant that, this day we fall into no sin, neither run 
 into any kind of danger ; but that all our doings may be 
 ordered by Thy governance, to do always that which is 
 righteous in Thy sight ?” Have you any hope, or any 
 faith, when you say that prayer ? And if you do your 
 duty as you can, do you think the failure will be on God’s 
 part ? Fear not, that, if you can trust in God, and do 
 accordingly, “ though your sins were as scarlet, yet they 
 shall be white as snow.” 
 
 Only let us forsake all those w^eak propositions, 
 which cut the nerves of faith, and make it impossible for 
 us to actuate all our good desires, or to come out from 
 the power of sin. 
 
 He that would be free from the slavery of sin and 
 the necessity of sinning, must also watch always. Aye, 
 that is the point ; but who can watch always ? Why, 
 every good man can watch always ; and that we may 
 not be deceived in this, let us know, that the running 
 away from a temptation is a part of our watchfulness ; 
 and every good employment is another great part of it ; 
 and a laying in of provisions of reason and religion, be- 
 forehand, is yet a third part of this watchfulness : and 
 the conversation of a Christian is a perpetual watch- 
 fulness, not a continual thinking of that one or those 
 many things which may endanger us ; but it is a con- 
 tinual doing something, directly or indirectly, against 
 sin. He either prays to God for His Spirit, or relies 
 upon the promises, or receives the Sacrament, or goes to 
 his bishop for counsel and a blessing, or to his priest for 
 religious offices, or places himself at the feet of good men, 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 239 
 
 to hear their wise sayings, or calls for the Church’s 
 prayers, or does the duty of his calling, or actually re- 
 sists temptation, or frequently renews his holy purposes, 
 or searches into his conscience by a daily examination ; 
 so that, upon the whole, he is for ever upon his guard. 
 This duty and caution of a Christian is like watching 
 lest a man cut his finger. Wise men do not often cut 
 their fingers, yet every day they use a knife ; and a 
 man’s eye is a tender thing, and everything can do it 
 wrong, and everything can put it out ; yet because w^e 
 love our eyes so well, in the midst of so many dangers, 
 by God’s Providence, and a prudent natural care, by 
 winking when anything comes against them, and by 
 turning aside when a blow is offered, they are preserved 
 so certainly, that not one man in ten thousand does, by 
 a stroke, lose one of his eyes in all his lifetime. If we 
 would transplant our natural care to a spiritual caution, 
 we might by God’s grace be kept from losing our souls, 
 as we are from losing our eyes. 
 
 But he that would be advanced beyond the power 
 and necessity of sinning, must also take great caution 
 concerning his thoughts and secret desires ; “ for lust, 
 when it is conceived, bringeth forth sin;” but if it be 
 suppressed in the conception it comes to nothing ; but 
 w^e find it hard to destroy the serpent, when the egg is 
 hatched into a cockatrice. We take no notice of the 
 thought, but let it alone till the sin be too strong, and 
 then we complain we cannot help it. “ Suffer not your 
 thoughts to grow up,” for they usually come, as St. Ba- 
 sil says, “ suddenly and easily, and without business ; ” 
 but take heed that you nurse them not ; but if you chance 
 
240 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 to stumble, mend your pace ; and if you nod, let it awa- 
 ken you ; for he only can be a good man that raises 
 himself up’ at the first trip, that strangles his sin in the 
 birth. “ Good men rise up again, even before they fall,” 
 saith St. Chrysostom. Now, I pray, consider, that when 
 sin is but in the thought it is easily suppressed, and if 
 it be stopped there it can go no further ; and what great 
 mountain of labour is it then to abstain from our sin ? 
 Is not the wickedness of the eye easily cured by shutting 
 the eye-lid ? and cannot the thoughts of the heart be 
 turned aside by doing business, by going into company, 
 by reading, or by sleeping. A man may divert his 
 thoughts by shaking of his head, by thinking any thing 
 else, by thinking nothing. Every man that loves God 
 understands this, and more than this, to be true. 
 
 Now, if things be thus, and that we may be safe in 
 that which is supposed to be the hardest of all, we 
 must need condemn ourselves, and lay our faces in the 
 dust, when we give up ourselves to any sin ; we cannot 
 be justified by saying we could not help it. 
 
 Lastly, if sin hath gotten the power of any one of us, 
 consider in what degree the sin hath prevailed. If but 
 a little, the battle will be more easy and the victory 
 more certain ; but then be sure to do it thoroughly, be- 
 cause there is not much to be done. But if sin hath 
 prevailed greatly, then indeed you have very much to 
 do ; therefore begin betimes, and defer not this work till 
 old age shall make it extremely difficult, or death shall 
 make it impossible. 
 
 If thou beest cast behind, if thou hast neglected the 
 duties of thy vigorous age, thou shalt never overtake 
 
SELF-CONTROL. 
 
 241 
 
 that strength ; The hinder wheel, though bigger than 
 the former, and measures more ground at every revolu- 
 tion, yet shall never overtake it and all the second 
 counsels of thy old age, though undertaken with great 
 resolution, and acted with the strength of fear and need, 
 and pursued with more pertinacious purpose than the 
 early repentances of young men, yet shall never over- 
 take those advantages, which you lost when you gave 
 your youth to folly, and the causes of a sad repen- 
 tance. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, <kc. 
 
 Consider whether you are continually making good reso- 
 lutions and breaking them. Remember particularly whether 
 you do this in little instances which seem scarcely to be ques- 
 tions of right and wrong, such as neatness, punctuality, (fee. 
 If this be so, you will do well not to let such a state of things 
 go on any longer. It will eat, as it were, at the root of your 
 power of self-control in greater things. 
 
 Think whether you satisfy yourself by a half perform- 
 ance of your resolutions; keeping them for a few days or 
 weeks, and then, when you look back, soothing yourself by 
 saying, “ I did try.” This is a very common state of mind, 
 and it will hinder you from ever becoming a devoted servant 
 of Christ, for it will cause you to be satisfied with the least 
 amount of duty, instead of striving after the greatest. If a re- 
 solution can be kept for a week, what but our own weakness or 
 wilfulness can prevent its being kept for a fortnight, a month, 
 a year, or while one lives ? This, however, refers to resolu- 
 tions in our own power, such as not going to any particular 
 place, or reading any particular book, or indulging in any 
 known bad habit. Resolutions against vanity, anger, (fee., 
 are of a different kind. These bad feelings arise before we 
 are aware, and we can therefore only resolve to strive against 
 them. We cannot engage to conquer them entirely, so that 
 they shall never appear again. 
 
 11 
 
242 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Think especially whether yon keep a strict, watch over 
 your thoughts, not only checking those which are wrong, but 
 endeavouring to encourage those which are right. Amongst 
 other waj’s of storing our minds with good thoughts, and 
 keeping out bad ones, it is a very good practice when we have 
 much leisure, or when our hands and not our heads are occu- 
 pied, to employ ourselves in learning by rote, so that we may 
 store our minds with thoughts which may return to us at 
 other times. We shall have made but little progress in 
 self-control until we have so accustomed ourselves to govern 
 our words and actions as to find our chief labour to consist in 
 guiding our thoughts. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O God, the Giver of all Grace, the Author of all ghostly 
 strength, look with compassion upon my infirmities, and pre- 
 serve me that I sleep not in the death of sin. Help me to be 
 fervent in prayer, and steadfast in resolution. Teach me to 
 set a watch upon my thoughts, and let not my heart be in- 
 clined to any evil thing. Enable me to flee from every oc- 
 casion of sin, and so strengthen me, O Lord, by Thy grace, 
 that 1 may fight a good fight, and conquer, and be crowned 
 with a crown of righteousness, which I beg I may receive 
 from the Hands, and by the Mercies, of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, &c. 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 “ When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels 
 ^ith Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory : and before him 
 shall be gathered all nations : and He shall separate them one from another, 
 as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats : and He shall set the sheep 
 on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto 
 them on His right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : for I was an hungred, 
 and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stran- 
 ger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye vis- 
 ited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous- 
 answer Him, saying. Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee ? 
 or thirsty, and gave Thee drink ? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took 
 Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? or when saw we Thee sick, or in 
 prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto 
 them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
 least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Then shall He say 
 also unto them on the left hand. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ; for I was an hungred, and ye 
 gave Me no meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink : I was a stran- 
 ger, and ye took Me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not : sick, and in 
 prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying. 
 Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or sick, or in prison, and 
 did not minister unto Thee ? Then shall He answer them, saying. Verily 
 I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did 
 it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but 
 the righteous into life eternal.” — St. Matt. xxv. 31—46. 
 
 “ God,” we are told, “ commendeth His love towards 
 us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one 
 another.” 
 
 It is a joy to speak and think of love. The very 
 
244 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 heart bounds at the name. It speaks of such unutter- 
 able sweetness, — of being bathed and bedewed and over- 
 flowed with the tender mercy of our God, — of being ad- 
 mitted into His Secret Presence, face to Face, eye to 
 Eye, to gaze on Him as He Is, to lose ourselves there 
 in the boundless depth of His Essential Love. Yet, says 
 a Father, “ Sweet is the name of love, but more sweet 
 the deed.” “ My little children,” says the Apostle, “ let 
 us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and 
 in truth.” 
 
 Not in word, but in deed, did the Father love us, 
 when He gave His Son to die for us ; not in word, but 
 in deed, did God the Son love us, when He laid aside 
 His Essential Glory and wedded Himself to our shame ; 
 not in word, but in deed, did He love us, when He hum- 
 bled Himself to the Death of the Cross ; and as He 
 hung there, our sins pierced Him more sharply than 
 that awful blood-stained Crown of Thorns, or those rend- 
 ing Nails. And shall we then for ever go on in the broad 
 beaten way of self-indulgence, loving the world and the 
 things of the world, pleasures, tables, furniture, dress, 
 ornaments, luxury, finery, all the things which shall be 
 burnt up, — thinking nothing too much to spend upon 
 ourselves, unashamed to be so unlike Christ, who 
 hath so loved us, that we might in our brethren love 
 Him? 
 
 “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Such 
 gracious words does our Good Lord say to us on every 
 occasion of mercy which He offers to us. He who, 
 while He fed Angels, deigned to be supplied by the 
 
ALMSGIVING 
 
 245 
 
 ministry of others, to ask drink of an outcast, to be 
 naked upon the Cross, to have Ilis Sacred Body wrap- 
 ped in that linen cloth not His own, still vouchsafes to 
 be hungry, athirst, naked, sick, houseless, in His breth- 
 ren. He who for us became a little child, to sanctify 
 childhood, may still be received, cherished, in little chil- 
 dren. He still supplies us from Heaven, that he may re- 
 ceive from us on earth that for which, before men and 
 angels. He shall own Himself our debtor; for which 
 when Heaven shall be emptied of all its glorious Hosts, 
 and Angels, Archangels, Powers, Dominions shall stand 
 gazing by. He who supplied our wants, gave us what to 
 give, and the love to give. He, the Lord of all, shall, be- 
 fore all, own : “Ye have fed Me, have sheltered Me, 
 have visited Me, have received Me, have relieved Me, 
 your King and your God.” Ye, through My love, have, 
 in them, loved Me on earth ; receive ye My love. Ye, 
 in them, have shared earthly things, your earthly inher- 
 itance, with Me on earth ; lo, I share with you My in- 
 heritance, the inheritance which is Mine by right ; that 
 ye be co-heirs with Me in heaven. Ye, in pains, or 
 weariness, or self-denial for them, shared my sorrows on 
 earth ; now share ye My joy, enter ye into the joy of 
 your Lord.” 
 
 Oh unutterable loving kindness and lowliness of our 
 Redeemer ! who not only restores us, but would crown 
 us ; not only forgives us, but would account Himself 
 our debtor for that for which He forgives us. “ He 
 that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, 
 and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him 
 again ” 
 
246 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 It is Christ, then, who speaketh to us, by the cry of 
 that distress which reach eth His own ear in Heaven ; 
 which, unrelieved, were a cry to Him against us ; if 
 ministered to, entreats His mercy for us. 
 
 Sore, indeed, is it to think of money wasted in lux- 
 ury and idle show, or heaped up needlessly for those 
 who shall waste it, to be worshipped as a god, or to 
 make men great in this world ; very sore is it to think 
 of this, and that thereby those lasting joys, the bril- 
 liancy of the heavenly crown, our Redeemer’s praise at 
 the last day, is forfeited. But could men, without 
 charity, be sound in faith, gentle, chaste, upright, tem- 
 perate, pure, all which could win the respect of their 
 equals in society, and yet neglect Christ in His poor, we 
 have the terrible sentence of our Judge, “ Depart from 
 me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” 
 
 Who will say that not only the wants of the 
 Church might not be at once supplied, but all other 
 wants of the poor removed, did we all place our God 
 where we set ourselves ; His Kingdom and His Right- 
 eousness first, ourselves last ; would each, or even many 
 give out of the ability which God hath given them. 
 
 Let us then consider our ways, and fix at least some 
 portion which shall be always God’s. 
 
 The Jews bestowed year by year one tenth of their 
 substance on the poor, beyond the one tenth which 
 they gave to God’s Priests. Yearly they retained but 
 four fifths for themselves. One fifth of the increase 
 wherewith God had blessed them they gave to Him in 
 His ministers and His poor ; and each third year, they 
 gave a third tenth to God. And shall we then, on 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 247 
 
 whom the very name of the Son of God lias been 
 called, be content with a Jewish charity ? Shall we, 
 on whom the light and love of the Gospel has been 
 poured, fall short of the measures of the law ? Have 
 we no faith, no eyes to see, no hearts to look for 
 heavenly treasures ? Shall we always be so fixed on 
 the things of this passing world as to have no sense left 
 for the things of Eternity ? 
 
 Far different are we from our forefathers ; they con« 
 fessed Christ in deeds, we in words ; they had a care 
 for Christ’s poor, we for our families. They practised 
 self-denying charity, men now think it much if they 
 give out of superfluities. They thought it their highest 
 glory to glorify God, we to aggrandize self. Their 
 habits were, what we should think, an austere, and rude, 
 and self-denying simplicity ; ours a soft, and elegant, 
 and self-indulgent luxury. 
 
 Luxuries which they knew not, we have made our 
 essential comforts, and year by year heap up new luxu- 
 ries, and furnish our houses with expenses which they 
 knew not of, and cover our tables with needless pro- 
 fusion, and should think the fare of our forefathers 
 coarse and hard ; and ornament our houses with re- 
 finements, and our persons with “ gold and costly ar- 
 ray.” We fence ourselves round with elegances, until 
 there is no way for the breath of Heaven to pass through 
 and breathe into our souls the spirit of charity ; and, 
 if a somewhat larger sum be needed for some urgent 
 Christian purpose, we give our own petty contributions, 
 and make up the larger portion with the sale of bau- 
 bles (confessing that we cannot obtain what we want 
 
248 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 from men’s Christian love), and call this multiplying of 
 our luxuries Christian charity. 
 
 We give guineas when we should give tens, and 
 tens for hundreds ; and hundreds are given when thou- 
 sands might be given, and yet abundance left ; alas ! 
 would one need not say when tens of thousands might 
 be readily spared, people grudge themselves their rich 
 reward, and think well of themselves for some costless 
 otferinof 1 
 
 What is first in a man’s affections find^ no lack. 
 A narrow income is found large enough to supply his 
 chief, first wishes. Any one would almost be surprised 
 and startled to find how much himself had spent in 
 twenty years ; of how much expenditure, which passed 
 away unperceived, he has to give account to God, when 
 his stewardship is to be given up. When people in 
 earnest seek God first, they will be surprised to find 
 how much of the wants of their poor neighbours they 
 may readily supply. The habits of any luxurious na- 
 tion, like ourselves, are to spend largely, upon self : 
 self is its idol. “ Luxury,” says Bishop Horsley, “ ren- 
 ders every man selfish upon principle.” Our own 
 houses, our grounds, if we have them, our own persons, 
 tables, furniture, equipage, attendants, are its first ob- 
 jects ; the first thing to be regarded, that which is es- 
 sential to us. It is taken for granted that these are to 
 be provided with “ all that the soul lusteth after ; ” no 
 matter for expense here, if the eye be but gratified. 
 Nay, in very wantonness, people multiply things which 
 in no way minister unto their comfort ; and when all 
 these things have been heaped up, think it a great 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 249 
 
 thing, if some petty sum be spared for Almighty God. 
 But we cannot be said to have any adequate notion of 
 charity until we have realized, as the habit of our 
 mind, that nothing that we have is ours; that we are 
 stewards, not lords of it ; that week by week, and day 
 by day, we hold it of Him ; that we are to give an ac- 
 count of it, coin by coin ; all we waste, misuse, spend 
 in luxury, or on self ; that to hoard it, is to heap up 
 fire ; to spend it upon self, is to lose it ; to aggrandize 
 ourselves by it, is to sink ourselves in God’s sight ; to 
 give it largely, denying self, is to lay up treasure with 
 Almighty God. 
 
 Yet giving is not all. To use the words of a pious 
 Bishop of our Church, “ alms without mercy are like 
 prayers without devotion, or religion without humility. 
 And the works of mercy are so many as the affections 
 of mercy have objects, or as the world hath kinds of 
 misery. 
 
 “ Men want meat, or drink, ar clothes, or a house, 
 or liberty, or attendance, or a grave. And in propor- 
 tion to these, seven kinds of corporal alms are reckoned, 
 — to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, or 
 clothes to the naked, to redeem the captives, to visit the 
 sick, to entertain strangers, to bury the dead. But, be- 
 sides these, the works of spiritual alms and mercy are 
 — to teach the ignorant, to comfort the afflicted, to par- 
 don offenders, to sutfer and support the weak, to pray 
 for all estates of men,* and for relief to all their neces- 
 sities, to be gentle and charitable in censuring the ac- 
 tions of others ; and many besides, too numerous to bo 
 discoursed of particularly.” 
 
 11 ^ 
 
250 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 “ If therefore,” he adds, “ thou hast no money, yet 
 thou must have mercy, and art bound to pity the poor 
 and pray for them, and throw thy holy desires and de- 
 votions into the treasury of the Church. And if thou 
 dost what thou art able, be it little or great, corporal or 
 spiritual, the charity of alms, or the charity of prayers, 
 a cup of wine, or a cup of water, if it be but love to 
 the brethren, or a desire to help all or any of Christ’s 
 poor, it shall be accepted according to that a man hath, 
 not according to that he hath not.” 
 
 The same Bishop gives the following rules for the 
 right disposal of our alms. 
 
 “ Let no man,” he says, “ do alms uf that which is 
 none of his own, for of that he is to make restitution. 
 But this is not to be understood as if it were unlawful 
 for a man that is not able to pay his debts to give 
 smaller alms to the poor. He may not give such por- 
 tions as can in any sense more disable him to do justice ; 
 but such, which if they were saved, could not advance the 
 other duty, may retire to this, and do here what they 
 may, since in the other duty they cannot do what they 
 should.” 
 
 “ He that gives alms, must do it with a single eye 
 and heart ; that is, without designs to get the praise of 
 men ; and if he secures^ that, he may either give them 
 publicly or privately ; for Christ intended only to pro- 
 vide against pride and hypocrisy, when he bade alms 
 to be given in secret : it being otherwise, one of his 
 commandments, that “ our light should shine before 
 men.” This is more excellent ; that is more safe. 
 
 “ According to thy ability give to all men that 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 251 
 
 need ; and in equal needs, give first to good men, ratlier 
 than to bad men ; and if the needs be unequal, do so 
 too ; provided that the need of the poorest be not vio- 
 lent or extreme. But if an evil man be in extreme ne- 
 cessity, he is to be relieved, rather than a good man 
 who can tarry longer, and may subsist without it.” 
 
 “ Give no alms to vicious persons, if such alms 
 will support their sin ; as if they will continue in idle- 
 ness ; ‘ if they will not work, neither let them eat ; ’ 
 or if they will spend it in drunkenness or wantonness. 
 Such persons, when they are reduced to very great want, 
 must be relieved in such proportions as may not relieve 
 their dying lust, but may refresh their faint or dying 
 bodies.” 
 
 “ Trust not your alms to intermediate, uncertain, 
 and under-dispensers. By which rule is not intended 
 the securing your alms in the right channel ; but the 
 humility of your person, and that ^vhich the apostle 
 calls ‘ the labour of love.’ And if you converse in hos- 
 pitals and alms-houses, and minister with your own 
 hand what your heait hath first decreed, you will find 
 your heart endeared and made familiar with the per- 
 sons of the poor, those excellent images of Christ.” 
 
 “ In giving alms to beggars and persons of that 
 low rank, it is better to give little to each ; that we 
 may give to the more, so extending our alms to many 
 persons. But in charities of religion, as building hos- 
 pitals, colleges, and houses for devotion, and supplying 
 the accidental wants of decayed persons, fallen from 
 great plenty to great necessity, it is better to unite our 
 alms than to disperse them ; to make a noble relief or 
 
252 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 maintenance to one and to restore him to comfort, than 
 to support only his natural needs, and keep him alive 
 only unrescued from sad discomforts.” 
 
 “ The precepts of alms or charity binds not indefi- 
 nitely to all the instances and kinds of charity ; for he 
 that delights to feed the poor, and spends all his por- 
 tion that way, is not bound to enter into prisons and 
 redeem captives ; but we are obliged, by the presence 
 of circumstances, and the special dispositions of Provi- 
 dence to this or that particular act of charity. When 
 we have an object present to our eye, then we must 
 pity ; for there the Providence of God hath fitted our 
 charity with circumstances. He that is in thy sight 
 or in thy neighbourhood is fallen into the lot of thy 
 charity.” 
 
 Such are some of the simple rules that have been 
 given for the performance of this great Christian duty 
 of mercy and almsgiving. 
 
 Let us believe our Lord’s words in earnest : seek to 
 love Him, long to requite Him Who gave His life for 
 us, to whom we owe ourselves, and He will teach us 
 what we can do. One dares not compare duties or 
 graces, as though we might cherish or perform the one 
 and neglect the other ; yet, while humility must be the 
 groundwork of all we do, and God Himself our only 
 end, there is no deeper source of blessing, no more fre- 
 quent means of enlarged grace to the soul, than love, 
 for Christ’s sake, to His little ones and His poor. 
 
 Blessed, thrice blessed, they who, for love of Christ 
 and having Him alone for their portion, have or can 
 give their lives to minister to and cherish them. But 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 253 
 
 blessed in their measure, all who, in whatever degree 
 receiving them, receive Him, and receiving Him, are 
 received by Him, our only Hope and Stay, and Abid- 
 ing-place. 
 
 Day by day, therefore, let us learn to deny our- 
 selves, our own desires, seeking not what we can afford 
 to spend upon self, but what we may lawfully deny 
 self ; examining in detail our expenses, in order warily 
 to cut off superfluities ; parting with luxuries which 
 perish in the using, and which must soon part with us, 
 in order to win the love of God. 
 
 He who overlooks not the cup of cold water will 
 keep our offerings. Each true gift is everlasting trea- 
 sure, safe, stored up, gathered year by year. And 
 when time’s course shall have swept by, and all the 
 things which now distract us — life’s pleasure, pain, 
 sorrow, joy, riches, poverty, distinction, shame — shall 
 be like a feverish dream from which we are awakened, 
 and charity shall alone abide, our Lord, whose coming 
 we look for, shall repay us ; He who enabled us to love 
 shall requite our love, for He is Love. 
 
 God forbid, that on that Day any of us should 
 hear, “Thy money perish with thee, because it was 
 thine. Thou watchedst over it, lordedst over it as if it 
 were thine, not heldest it as thy Lord’s, gavest it not as 
 His almoner, layedst it not up with Him, and there- 
 fore at His Coming shalt not be owned as His, whose 
 Coming thou didst not look for, to meet Whom thou 
 didst not prepare.” 
 
 Beware, then, now and ever, what you do. Angels 
 
254 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 behold, your Saviour looketh on, your Judge will re* 
 ward you. 
 
 Mercifulness is Heaven ; unmercifulness Hell. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination. Resolutions, (Jtc. 
 
 Think whether the help you give to the poor is such as 
 really obliges you to be self-denying ; or whether you only 
 bestow upon them what you do not need. It is easy to give 
 away clothes which we have laid aside, the leavings of our 
 table, after a plentiful dinner, the pence, or even shillings, or 
 pounds, which we do not know what to do with ; but it is 
 not easy to deny ourselves, what may seem an innocent 
 pleasure, for their sake. For this reason it is well to set apart 
 a certain portion of the money at our own disposal for the 
 purposes of charit}^, — a tenth, or more if possible, otherwise 
 we may be tempted to consider ourselves just, and leave to 
 the poor only what we do not care to spend. 
 
 Consider whether you fancy yourself generous and liberal 
 because you like to make handsome presents. It is quite 
 right on certain occasions, to make presents, but the pleasure 
 of giving is to some persons much greater than that of receiv- 
 ing. With them, therefore, the trial lies, not in the act of 
 giving, but in the persons to whom they give ; and they may 
 very much deceive themselves by supposing they are gener- 
 ous, when, in fact, they are only self-indulgent. Our alms to 
 the poor should always be considered a claim superior to our 
 gifts to the rich. 
 
 Think whether you are as careful to be just as you are to 
 be generous; especially whether you take care to pay your 
 debts, before you indulge yourself in being liberal. Consider 
 whether you are as willing to work for the poor as you may 
 be to give them money; whether you are kind and consider- 
 ate in your manner to them ; whether, if you have the opportu- 
 nity, you take pains to teach their children ; whether you try to 
 find out their needs, or whether you only relieve those 
 
ALMSGIVING. 
 
 255 
 
 which are, as it were, thrust before you, so that you cannot 
 avoid seeing them. Some of these questions will concern you 
 more as you grow older, but you can try yourself a little now 
 by inquiring how you behave to your servants, whether you 
 are thoughtful for them, gentle in manner, sympathising, 
 when they are ill. You may practise yourself by kindness to 
 them in showing mercy to the poor, when further opportu- 
 nities shall be afforded you. 
 
 Think whether you ever try to remember that the deeds 
 of kindness shown to the poor are really shown to our bless- 
 ed Saviour. This is the only true principle of charity, the 
 only one which will support us through all the effort and 
 self-denial which real charity requires. 
 
 Think whether you are as considerate and unselfish to- 
 wards the members of your own family as you are to those 
 who are unhappy and suffering amongst the poor. 
 
 Think, also, whether you try to be as sympathising and 
 kind to your friends and acquaintances as to the poor. It is 
 not uncommon for very well-meaning persons to neglect the 
 common courtesies and civilities of daily life, with persons in 
 their own station, and to think exclusively of the poor. This 
 is self-indulgence, though it may not at first sight appear so. 
 The Bible tells us that we have duties to all men. 
 
 PEAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, Ac. 
 
 O Lord God, Father of mercies, the Fountain of comfort 
 and blessing, who fillest Heaven with Thy glory, and Earth 
 with Thy goodness, make me, I beseech Thee, Thy servant ; 
 and give me testimony that I am translated from death to 
 life, by charity and love to all my brethren. O may my 
 heart yearn with pity over the necessities of the poor and 
 needy; and give me grace and power to help them, and re- 
 lieve their miseries. Enable me to be just in all my actions, 
 kind and sympathising to my friends, free from selfishness, 
 
256 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 patient, and forbearing ; that I, being merciful as my Heav- 
 enly Father is, may receive the blessings provided for the 
 charitable, even comfort in sickness, health of body, and par- 
 don of my sins, through Thy mercies and blessed charity, O 
 most Merciful Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
CONVERSATION, 
 
 “ If any man oifend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to 
 bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they 
 may obey us ; and we twine about their whole body. Behold also the 
 ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet 
 are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governer 
 listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. 
 Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a 
 fire, a world of iniquity ; so is the tongue among our members, that it 
 defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is 
 set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, 
 and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind ; but 
 the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” — 
 St. James iii. 2 — 8. 
 
 “ Who is a wise man and imbued with knowledge among yeu ? let 
 him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wis- 
 dom.” — St James iii. 15. 
 
 “Let no corrupt communicktion proceed out of your mouth, but that 
 which is good to the use of edifying.” — Eph. iv. 29. 
 
 “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not con- 
 venient : but rather giving of thanks.” — E ph. v. 4. 
 
 “I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall 
 give account thereof in the Day of Judgment For by thy words thou 
 shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shall be condemned.” — St. Matt. 
 xii. 36, 37. 
 
 “ I say unto you that every idle word that men shall 
 speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of 
 Judgment.” 
 
 The passage may be considered as one of the most 
 awful and alarming to be found in the whole compass 
 of the revealed Will of God. ^It is enough to make 
 
258 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 our very hearts die within us, to reflect that for every 
 wicked word we shall be judged on that Day, in which 
 the balance shall be struck between good and evil, and 
 our lots be cast in Heaven or hell. It is terrible enoup’h 
 
 o 
 
 to think of what may be the amount of evil known, and 
 confessed, and unquestioned evil which may fall from the 
 lips of any one of us in any single year of our lives ; but 
 the Scripture teaches us beyond this, that for every idle 
 word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
 thereof in the Day of Judgment. 
 
 Every idle word, every thoughtless speech, every un- 
 profitable, unedifying conversation, every frivolous and 
 foolish remark, every thing that we ourselves should be 
 the first to pronounce not worth repeating is to be re- 
 peated in the face of the assembled world, before men 
 and angels. 
 
 Surely it is well to look to ourselves and see what 
 are those things we chiefly talk about, and how far they 
 tend to edifying. 
 
 On that awful Day, the blasphemer and the profane 
 swearer will hear their sentence of well-deserved con- 
 demnation : — this we know from many a passage of 
 Holy W rit ; but He who speaks lightly or irreverently 
 of holy things, who can point a jest with Scriptural 
 quotation, who presumes to trifle with the Law of God, 
 by softening down or explaining away what has been 
 strictly enjoined, or who talks at all about religion, when 
 he knows that his doing so will expose it to the mock- 
 ing of unholy tongues ; can we hesitate to infer from 
 the words of our Lord that such a person has involved 
 himself in an amount of guilt as great as it is probably 
 
CONVERSATION. 
 
 259 
 
 unsuspected, and that he will be judged hereafter with 
 a very ditierent judgment from that which he at present 
 expects ? 
 
 Again. Expressions of implied impurity — words 
 which raise or encourage evil thoughts, sentences utter- 
 ed with a double sense, language such as the world 
 uses when it would palliate the enormous guilt of forni- 
 cation and adultery — must not these words be hateful 
 in the sight of Him who is purity itself? Will they 
 not be judged by Him hereafter with a righteous judg- 
 ment ? 
 
 Once more. They whose conversation is chiefly 
 about their neighbours’ actions, and who, in order to 
 make that conversation agreeable and amusing in the 
 opinion of the world, are perpetually on the look-out 
 for anecdotes of their neighbours’ follies and infirmities ; 
 who repeat without scruple the tales and calumnies of 
 the day ; who purposely misrepresent, or who carelessly 
 exaggerate ; who tell the truth, but not the whole truth, 
 shall, in proportion to their error, be called on to ac- 
 count for it before the Judgment Seat of Christ. 
 
 And to give one other instance (common enough, it 
 is to be feared, in the present times, and therefore very 
 needful for the consideration of all). We are solemnly 
 warned by St. Peter, that they who “ speak evil ” of 
 their fellow-christians “ shall give account thereof” to 
 Him that is ready “ to judge the quick and the dead.” 
 For the censorious, therefore, for the mischief-maker, the 
 uncharitable man who arraigns the sincerity and disin- 
 terestedness of those with whose religious opinions he 
 disagrees, the vengeance of God is preparing. If this 
 
260 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 be true — and who shall gainsay it ? — can w^e lull our- 
 selves into the belief that it is innocent, that it is safe^ 
 to make the questions which agitate and distract the 
 Church a subject of common conversation on common 
 occasions ? Is it right to allow ourselves to make use 
 of party epithets, to talk irreverently and uncharitably, 
 to say things which, if repeated, will excite angry feel- 
 ings among those with whom we differ ; to disseminate 
 those ill-natured rumours of the day with respect to 
 the excesses (whether on one side or the other) of those 
 who maintain extreme opinions, and whose judgments 
 may not be as sound as their intentions are pure ? 
 
 Many have little scruple in doing these things ; and 
 it is easy to persuade oneself that denunciation of error 
 is a duty of all persons at all times, and that that is re- 
 ligious and edifying conversation which, in point of 
 fact, is little more than tattling and censoriousness. But 
 it is impossible not to trace the perilous effects which 
 this sort of licence produces on the souls of individuals, 
 and it is no difficult task to perceive the evil which it 
 brings upon the Church. We can scarcely fail therefore 
 to conclude that herein an offence is committed against 
 God, for which, as for more obvious transgressions, men 
 wdll be held accountable hereafter. 
 
 “ In slandering a neighbour,” says St. Chrysostom, 
 “ thou hast made thyself liable to chastisement and ven- 
 geance, by involving thyself in matters which in no way 
 concern thee. For let not any one tell me, in reply, 
 ‘Then I am an evil speaker when I speak falsely; but 
 if I speak what is true, I am far from being so.’ Al- 
 though it be with truth thou speakest evil, this also is a 
 
CONVERSATION. 
 
 261 
 
 crime. For that Pharisee spake evil of the publican 
 with truth : but nevertheless this availed him not. For 
 was not the latter, I ask, a publican and a sinner ? It 
 is manifest to every one that he was a publican. But at 
 the same time, inasmuch as the Pharisee spoke ill of 
 him, he departed from the temple with the loss of eveiy 
 advantage.’' 
 
 “ And not only do I admonish the evil speakers ; 
 but those besides, who hear others ill-spoken of, I ex- 
 hort to stop up their ears, and to imitate the prophet, 
 who saith, ‘ Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, 
 him will I punish.’ Say to thy neighbour, ‘ Hast thou 
 any one to praise or highly to commend ? I open my 
 ears to receive the fragrant oil ; but if thou hast any 
 evil to say, I block up the entrance to thy words ; for I 
 am not to admit dung and dirt. What profit doth it 
 afibrd me to learn that such a one is a bad man ? The 
 greatest injury, indeed, results from this, and the worst 
 loss.’ ” 
 
 “ Say to him, ‘ Let us be anxious about our own 
 faults ; how we may render up an account of our own 
 transgressions, and exhibit this sort of curiosity and scru- 
 tiny respecting our own lives. What excuse or par- 
 don shall we find, whilst we never even take into con- 
 sideration our own afiairs, but thus inquisitively pry 
 into those of others V And as it is mean and extremely 
 disgraceful to stare into a house, and to observe what is 
 within as one passes, so also to make inquisition into 
 another man’s life is the last degree of illiberality. 
 But what is yet more ridiculous is, that those who lead 
 this sort of life, and are neglectful of their own affairs, 
 
262 
 
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 when they have mentioned any of these secret matters, 
 beseech and adjure him who has heard it not to mention it 
 more to any other person ; thus making it plain that 
 they have done an action which deserves censure. For 
 if thou beseechest him to tell this to no other person, 
 much more did it not become thee to tell these things 
 first to him. The matter was safe while in thy posses- 
 sion ; now, after betraying it, thou art grown anxious for 
 its safety. If thou art desirous that it be not carried 
 abroad to another, do not thyself tell it. But when 
 thou hast betrayed the custody of the matter to another, 
 thou doest what is superfluous and useless, in charging 
 him and putting him on oath for the safety of what 
 has been spoken.” 
 
 “ ‘ But it is sweet to slander.’ Nay, — it is sweet 
 not to speak evil. For he that hath spoken evil is 
 henceforth anxious ; he is suspicious, and he fears, re- 
 pents, and gnaws his own tongue, being timorous and 
 trembling lest at any time what he said should be car- 
 ried to others, and bring great peril, and useless and 
 needless enmity on the sayer. ‘Thou hast heard a 
 word,’ it hath been said, ‘ let it die with thee : and be 
 bold ; it will not burst thee.’ What is the meaning of 
 this ? ‘ let it die with thee.’ Extinguish it : bury it ; 
 neither permit it to go forth, nor even to move at all ; 
 but as the best course, be careful not to tolerate others 
 in the practice of evil speaking. And should you per- 
 chance at any time receive an impression from it, bury 
 it, destroy what has been uttered, deliver it over to ob- 
 livion, in order that you may become like those who 
 have not heard it, and spend the present life with much 
 
CONVERSATION. 
 
 263 
 
 peace and security. It is well if one who spends all liis 
 leisure on the anxious consideration of liis own sins, and 
 the judgment of them, can make any progress. But 
 when thou art always busy about other men’s matters, 
 art thou ever likely to be concerned respecting what is 
 evil in thine own ? 
 
 “ Let us tiee then, beloved, let us flee slander ! know- 
 ing that it is the very gulf of Satan, and the place 
 where he lurks with his snares. For, in order that we 
 may be cai’eless of our own state, and may thus render 
 our account the hea\der, the devil leads us into this 
 custom. But more than this ; it is not only a very se- 
 rious matter, that we shall hereafter have to give ac- 
 count of what we have spoken, but that we shall make 
 our own oflence the heavier by these means ; depriving 
 ourselves of all excuse. For he who scans with bitter- 
 ness the conduct of others can never obtain pardon for the 
 sins committed by himself. For God will determine the 
 sentence, not only from the nature of our transgressions, 
 but from the judgment which thou hast passed upon 
 others. 
 
 “ The sin of whatsoever kind will not there appear 
 any more such as it w^as when committed, but will re- 
 ceive a great and unpardonable addition from the judg- 
 ment passed by thee upon thy fellow servant.” 
 
 Such thoughts as these must surely make us think 
 seriously of the nature of sins of the tongue ; yet unless 
 we take active measures for getting the mastery over 
 ourselves, the feeling will be a transient one. The pow- 
 er of control does not come of itself. It is, under grace, 
 the consequence of many petty victories, in many petty 
 
264 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 conflicts. And these incessant struggles with our natu- 
 ral impulses, in matters which seem, at the moment, of 
 no great consequence, are amongst the most irksome to 
 which we are exposed in the course of our spiritual trial. 
 
 But we are not our own ; we have been bought with 
 a price ; and, therefore, we must glorify God in our bod- 
 ies, and in our spirits, which are God’s. Every mem- 
 ber must be disciplined into obedience unto the head. 
 The tongue, as well as the eye, the hand, and the foot, 
 must do the will of Him that made it. Keligious sub- 
 jects, indeed, are not the only subjects upon which ear- 
 nest-minded persons will speak. Bather, those who are 
 most religious are too reverential to speak much about 
 it in ordinary conversation. But the conversation of 
 Christians may be described generally as innocent, 
 harmless ; such as angels may listen to, and such as may 
 in no way tend to hinder our growth in grace. 
 
 “ It must minister grace to the hearers,” that is, ob- 
 serves Bishop Taylor, “ it must be as far from sullen ness 
 as it ought to be from lightness. Plaisance, and joy, 
 and a lively spirit, and a pleasant conversation, and the 
 innocent caresses of a charitable humanity, are not 
 forbidden. For cheerfulness and a festival spirit fill the 
 soul full of harmony. It composes music for churches 
 and hearts ; it makes and publishes glorifications of 
 God ; it produces thankfulness, and serves the end of 
 charity ; and if a facete discourse and an amicable 
 friendly mirth can refresh the spirit, and take it off from 
 the vile temptation of peevish, despairing, uncomplying, 
 melancholy, it must needs be innocent and commend- 
 able.” 
 
CONVERSATION. 
 
 2G5 
 
 But when the jest hath teeth and nails, biting or 
 scratching our brother, — when it is loose and wanton — 
 when it is unseasonable, and much, or many, — when it 
 serves ill purposes, or spends better time, then it is the 
 drunkenness of the soul, and makes the spirit fly away, 
 seeking for a temple where the mirth and the music are 
 solemn and religious.” 
 
 Much that is tolerated in the world is of this nature. 
 Indelicacy, making a mock of sin, retailing the deeds of 
 those who commit sin, trifling and frivolity, the conven- 
 tional falsehoods which the world counts as no falsehood, 
 tales and anecdotes of scandal, encouraging religious 
 dissensions by party language, uncharitable censures, 
 irritating remarks, for all these we shall one Day be cal- 
 led to a strict account. And as a preparation for that 
 awful Judgment, would we inquire into the condition of 
 our souls now, there is one text laid down in Scripture 
 by which we may try ourselves, with the certainty that 
 we cannot be misled by it. That text is : — “ If any 
 man among you seem to be religious, and hridleth not 
 his tongue^ but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s re- 
 ligion is vam.” 
 
 Suggestions for SelfExamination, Resolutions, <kc. 
 
 Think whether you are apt to be led away in conversa- 
 tion, talking quickly, and not pausing to consider if what you 
 are saying will be pleasing to God. If we could habitually 
 feel the Presence of God, the danger of conversation would 
 be gone. ^We all know how careful we are in the presence 
 of a person whom we respect. 
 
 Think whether, when your conscience suggests that you 
 12 
 
266 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 are wrong in what you have said, or are about to say, you in- 
 stantly check yourself, even though you may fancj^ also that 
 you are over particular. 
 
 Think whether you are deferential in conversation, listen- 
 ing attentively to others, instead of thrusting forward your 
 own opinions. Think also whether you speak respectfully of 
 persons in authority, and kindly of all men. 
 
 Think also whether you ever speak lightly of sinful prac- 
 tices. It is not uncommon to hear intemperance laughed at, 
 and made to appear absurd. This tends to make people for- 
 get how grievous a sin it is in the sight of God. 
 
 Think whether you ever betray secrets. 
 
 Consider whether you are moody or ungracious in conver- 
 sation. Young people often give way to this kind of reserve 
 and constraint ; and excuse themselves by saying that it is 
 natural to them. It may be natural, but it does not follow 
 that it is right. There are many cases in which it is as much 
 our duty to exert ourselves in conversation as it is to watch 
 that we say nothing wrong. 
 
 Think whether you habitually guard against exaggeration 
 or the slightest tendency to untruth. It is not always a duty 
 to say all we think, but it is quite a duty to say nothing 
 which we do not think. 
 
 Think whether you check yourself when you are inclined 
 to boast or be argumentative, or talk from conceit, wishing 
 to display your cleverness or learning. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, PitifuTand Gracious, &c. 
 
 Almighty God, Whose Eyes are in all the world, beholding 
 the evil and the good, give to me, Thy servant, such an aw- 
 ful sense of Thy Presence, that I may set a watch upon m}*- 
 mouth, and keep the door of my lips, that my words may be 
 holy, and my conversation tend ever to edification and right- 
 eousness. Deliver me from anger and evil speaking, from 
 
CONVERSATION. 
 
 267 
 
 self-conceit and levity, from deceit and exaggeration, and 
 grant that in the Great Day of Account, when every idle 
 word shall be judged, I may be accepted for His sake. Who 
 spake as never man spake, our Blessed Saviour and Redeem- 
 er, Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 “ I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth 
 for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom 
 is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are 
 reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His "Will in the army of 
 heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His 
 hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou ? ” — ^Daniel iv. 34. 
 
 “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, 
 saith the Lord. For, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My 
 ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” — 
 Isaiah Iv. 8, 9. 
 
 “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker 1 Let the potsherd strive 
 with the potsherds of the earth.” — Isaiah xlv. 9. 
 
 “ He is in one mind, and who can turn Him ? and what His Soul do- 
 sireth, even that He doeth.” — Job xxiii. 13. 
 
 “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace : thereby good shall 
 come unto thee.” — Job xxii. 21. 
 
 “ Then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up 
 thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall 
 hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, 
 and it shall be established unto thee ; and the light shall shine upon thy 
 ways.” — Job xxii. 21. 26—28. 
 
 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that 
 love God.” — Eom. viii. 28. 
 
 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
 God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. 
 For of Him, and 'through Him, and to Him, are all things ; to Whom be 
 glory for ever.” — Rom. xi. 33 — 36. 
 
 “ Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee ; take away this cup 
 from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” — St. Mark 
 xiv. 36. 
 
 It is the glory and bliss of Angels to be the Minis- 
 ters of God, “to do His pleasure,” to “behold the 
 Father’s face,” to read therein His Divine Blessed Will, 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OP GOD. 
 
 269 
 
 and to do it. It is the misery of devils and of the 
 damned, eternally to will what God willeth not, not to 
 will what He willeth. On earth, whoever wills what 
 God wills not, so far dethrones God, and sets np his 
 own will to dispute the Almightiness and Wisdom of 
 the Eternal God. It matters not wherein the least self- 
 will is exerted, in the least things or the greatest. A 
 “ cup of cold water ” may gain a brighter reward than 
 “ large gifts out of abundance.” Sins about seemingly 
 small things may bring the same damnation as those 
 which fill the world with misery. 
 
 By the fall, man’s will lost the power and wisdom 
 wherewith God endowed it, and now, “ what measure,” 
 saith a holy man, “ doth man’s desire set itself? Would 
 not he who through usury gaineth a little money, in 
 like way attempt to gain the whole world, if it were 
 possible ? If power were not wanting to the will, I say 
 confidently, the whole world would not sufiice one who 
 is in the power of self-will.” 
 
 It was, then, to cure this deep disease of self-will 
 that our Good Lord came, in our nature, to fulfil the 
 Father’s Will, to will what the Father willed, to “ empty 
 Himself and become obedient unto death, and that the 
 death of the Cross.” He was circumcised, and became 
 “ obedient unto the law, for man,” to “ redeem us fi^om 
 the curse of the law.” He became obedient, not only 
 to His Father, with Whom, as God, He was co-equal, 
 but as man, to the creatures. His earthly mother and His 
 reputed father, whom, as God, he created for Himself. 
 He began to hallow obedience to parents, “ the first 
 commandment with promise,” by subjecting His 
 
210 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 own Will to theirs. He spake not with authority until 
 He had given the example of obedience. And when 
 He entered on His Ministry, the Will of His Father 
 was the full contentment, refreshment, stay, reward, of 
 His soul as man. What to us men are our meat and 
 drink, the repairs of the daily decay of nature, the 
 medicine of our weariness, the staff of our life, a re- 
 ward of our toils, that to Him was His Father’s Will : 
 “ My meat is to do the Will of Him that sent Me and 
 to finish His work.” 
 
 Such was the oneness with His Father’s Will, 
 which, for us men and for our salvation. He wrought 
 for us, which, for our example. He pourtrayed. And 
 herein, besides that perfect fulfilment of the Will of 
 God, He seemeth to tell us how to learn it. 
 
 To suffer the Will of God is the surest, deepest, 
 safest way to learn to do it. For it has least of self. 
 It needeth only to be still, and it reposeth at once in 
 the loving Will of God. If we cannot do great things, 
 we can, at least, meekly bear chastening, hush our souls 
 and be still. It seems simple and plain at once. It is 
 but to own that God ordereth all things righteously, 
 and overruleth to His righteous ends all man’s unright- 
 eousness, and so to • accept all at once even man’s per- 
 verseness from the Almighty Hand of God. It is but 
 to believe that nothing is so slight as to escape God’s 
 perfect Knowledge ; that His Wisdom ruleth over all, 
 appointeth all, and so to submit itself to all. We un- 
 learn self-will by receiving all patiently, which crosses 
 self. Our first rebellion, our first going astray from 
 God, was to will for ourselves what God willed not ; 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 27 1 
 
 our first return is, to receive wliat we will not, because 
 God willetli it. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, thy grief or trouble be, take 
 every drop in thy cup from the Hand of Almighty 
 God. Thou knowest well that all comes from God, or- 
 dered or overruled by Him. How was the cup of thy 
 Lord filled, which He drank for thee ? All was of God, 
 yet almost all came through man. Through the con- 
 tempt of man, was His Virgin Mother thrust aside, and 
 He laid in His manger-bed. Through the neglect of 
 man, “ He had not where to lay His Head.” Through 
 man was He blasphemed, through man spit upon, buf- 
 feted, scourged, nailed, crucified, as by man He is now 
 crubified afresh. 
 
 Neither think any trouble too small, wherein to see 
 the Will of God for thee. Great troubles come but 
 seldom. Daily fretting trials — that is, what of thyself 
 would fret thee — may often, in God’s Hands, conform 
 thee more to His Gracious Will. They are the daily 
 touches, whereby He traces on thee the likeness of His 
 Divine Will. There is nothing too slight wherein to 
 practise oneness with the Will of God. By daily prac- 
 tice in little things, are our senses exercised, our limbs 
 nerved, our skill perfected. By daily practice in slight 
 crosses of our own will, do we learn the lesson our 
 Lord taught. “ Not as I will, but as Thou.” All the 
 things whereof men daily complain may perfect Thee 
 in the Will of God. The changes of the seasons, 
 bodily discomforts or ailments, rude words, petty slights, 
 little jealousies, unevenness of temper in those with 
 whom thou livest, misunderstandings, censures of thy 
 
272 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 faith, or practice, severe judgments, thanklessness of 
 those thou wouldest benefit, interruptions in what thou 
 wouldest do, oppressiveness or distraction of thy labours ; 
 whatever thou canst think of, wherein others fret them- 
 selves, and still more thyself ; therein thou seest how to 
 be of one will with God. 
 
 It is part of the Faith that, since nothing is of 
 chance. He without whom “not a sparrow falleth to 
 the ground,” appointeth each slightest accident of thy 
 life. He with whom “ the hairs of thy head are all 
 numbered” knoweth every throb of thy brow, each 
 hardly drawn breath, each shoot of pain, each beating 
 of the fevered pulse, each sinking of the aching heart. 
 Keceive, then, what are trials to thee^ not in the main 
 only, but one by one, from His All-loving Hands; 
 thank His Love for each ; unite each with the suffer- 
 ings of Thy Redeemer ; pray that He will thereby hal- 
 low them to thee. Thou wilt not know now what He 
 thereby will work in thee ; yet, day by day, shalt thou 
 receive the impress of the likeness of the Ever-blessed 
 Son, and in thee too, while thou knowest it not, God 
 shall “ be glorified,” yea, and “ shall glorify thee.” 
 
 “Consider,” says a good Bishop of our Church, 
 that “ God, who in mercy and wisdom governs the 
 world, would never have suffered so many sadnesses, 
 and have sent them especially to the most virtuous and 
 the wisest men, but that He intends they should be the 
 seminary of comfort, the nursery of virtue, the exercise 
 of wisdom, the trial of patience, the venturing for a 
 crown, and the gate of glory.” 
 
 “Afflictions,” he adds, “ are oftentimes the occasions 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 273 
 
 of great temporal advantages ; and we must not look 
 upon them as they sit down heavily upon us, but as 
 they serve some of God’s ends, and the purposes of 
 universal Providence. If a man could have opened 
 one of the pages of the Divine Council, and could have 
 seen the event of J oseph’s being sold to the merchants 
 of Amalek, he might, with much reason, have dried up 
 the young man’s tears ; and when God’s purposes are 
 opened in the events of things, as it was in the case of 
 Joseph, when he sustained his father’s family and be- 
 came lord of Egypt, then we see what ill judgment we 
 made of things, and* that we were passionate as chil- 
 dren, and transported with sense and mistaken interest. 
 For God esteems it one of His Glories that He brings 
 good out of evil ; and therefore it were but reason we 
 should trust God to govern His Own world as He 
 pleases; and that we should patiently wait till the 
 change cometh, or the reason be discovered.” 
 
 Yet since in some trials the soul is often perplexed 
 by its very sutfering, it may be for our rest, when we 
 shall be called to God’s loving discipline of sufferings 
 to have such simple rules as these : — 
 
 It is not against the Will of God, even strongly to 
 desire, if it should be His Will, what yet may prove 
 not to be His Will. Entire submission to the Will of 
 God requireth absolutely these two things. Wholly 
 will whatsoever thou knowest God to will ; wholly re- 
 ject whatsoever thou knowest God willeth not. Be- 
 yond these two, while the Will of God is as yet not 
 clear unto thee, thou art free. We must, indeed, in 
 all our prayers, have written, at least, in our hearts, 
 12 * 
 
274 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 those words spoken by our Dear Lord for us. “ Not 
 as I will, but as Thou.” We shall, in whatever degree 
 God hath conformed our Will to His, hold our will in 
 suspense, even while yet uncertain, ready to follow the 
 balance of His Gracious Will, even while we, trembling 
 watch its motions, and our dearest earthly hopes, laid 
 therein, seem ready gradually to sink, for the rest of 
 this life, in the dust. David feared, and lay all night 
 upon the earth, and prayed earnestly for the child of 
 his great sin ; “ Who can tell whether God will be 
 gracious to me, that the child may live ? ” When the 
 child was dead, he arose from the earth and worshipped 
 his heart wholly one with the Will of God. 
 
 And so thou, too, whatever it be which thou wiliest, 
 — the health and life of those thou lovest as thine own 
 soul, the turning aside of any threatened scourge of God, 
 the healing of thine aching heart, the cleansing away of 
 harassing thoughts, or of coldness, or distraction in pray 
 er, or deadness of soul, or absence of spiritual consolation, 
 thou mayest without fear ask it of God with thy whole 
 heart, and desire it wholly and earnestly, so that thou 
 desire therein the glory of God, and, though with sinking 
 heart, welcome the Will of God, when thou knowest as- 
 suredly what that Will is. 
 
 Nor is it against the Will of God to be bowed 
 down and grieved by what is the Will of God. How 
 can we but weep, and have sorrow of heart, when if it 
 be for our own sins and the sins of our people, the Ark, 
 the Church of God is sorely shaken, and the hearts of 
 men are perplexed, and the Work of God is hindered. 
 How can the hearts of those who fear the Lord but sink, 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 215 
 
 when the love of Him is waxed cold, and well nigh 
 “ all flesh corrupteth its way upon the earth,” and the 
 Church cries to God yet seems to be heard, like Abra- 
 ham, but for few. Such heaviness is according to the 
 Will of God, who willeth all men to be saved, and come 
 to the knowledge of the Truth. 
 
 And even when the heaviness is for our own private 
 grief, yet, if it be patient, it, too, is according to the 
 Will of God. For God hath made us such as to suffer. 
 He willeth that suffering be the healthful chastisement 
 of our sins. If we had not grief, we should not have 
 suffering, and without suffering, there were no healing. 
 We may then be bowed down by heaviness, so that we 
 ‘‘ humble ourselves under the Mighty Hand of God,” 
 we^ may grieve, so that we pour out our grief into his 
 Fatherly Bosom, and “ with our tears wash our Tender 
 Saviour’s feet.” “Father, nevertheless not as I will, but 
 as Thou.” So hath our Lord sanctified all the natural 
 shrinkings of our lower will. He vouchsafed to allow 
 the natural Will of His sacred Manhood to be “ amazed 
 and very heavy ” at the mysterious sufierings of the 
 Cross, to hallow the “ mute shrinkings ” of ours, and 
 guide us on to His all-holy submission of His Will. 
 
 Be this, then, our watchword, for the Church, for 
 those we love, for our own souls. Be this our rule in 
 action, “ not what I will, but what Thou ;” this, in suf- 
 fering “ not what I, but what Thou.” This shall hallow 
 our hope ; this shall hush our fears ; this shall ward off 
 disquiet ; this shall still our displeasure ; this shall pre- 
 serve our peace ; this shall calm anxieties ; this (if so it 
 must be) shall soothe our heartaches ; this shall give 
 
276 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 repose to our weariness ; this (the deeper our trouble) 
 shall be the deeper foretaste of Everlasting Peace and 
 Best. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions, dsc. 
 
 Consider whether, in your every-day life, you are in the 
 habit of complaining of little annoyances : heat, cold, fatigue, 
 discomfort, <fec. Even for domestic happiness, setting aside 
 higher considerations, this is a serious defect. We should do 
 well to resolve never really to complain of any trifling incon- 
 venience, unless by complaining it can be remedied. Obser- 
 vations of the kind are somejimes made laughingly, and then 
 they do not signify; but mournful lamentations over the wea- 
 ther, or our own little sufferings, cast a cloud over the bright- 
 ness of family life, and are — though we may not think so — 
 indications of a spirit which repines at the Will of God. 
 
 Think whether you can submit patiently to disagreeable 
 circumstances, when they come to you apparently by the will 
 of man. This is often much more difficult than to endure af- 
 flictions which come to us more immediately from the Provi- 
 dence of God. 
 
 Consider whether you habitually check your own will in 
 trifles : not, as the expression is, liking always to have your 
 own way. 
 
 Think whether you watch to see the end of events, which 
 have been at the time contrary to your wishes. We may 
 learn most wonderful lessons of faith in this wa}^ Y oung 
 persons, indeed, cannot have had much experience in the 
 course of the world’s affairs ; but it is well to begin such a 
 habit of thoughtfulness early, for, even in very slight circum- 
 stances, we shall constantly have cause to observe how all 
 things work together for good. 
 
 Think whether you have an anxious temper; whether 
 you load to-day with the sorrows of to-morrow. This cannot, 
 perhaps, entirely be avoided, when we are doubtful as to 
 
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 277 
 
 what the Will of God may be ; but it may be checked by 
 prayer, and by keeping a constant guard upon our thoughts, 
 not letting them run on to what may possibly happen. 
 
 Think whether you indulge yourself in imagining what 
 you would do, and how you would feel, if your position In 
 life were more prosperous. This naturally tends to discon- 
 tent, and absence of resignation. Our duty is to reckon up, 
 not the good things we might have, but those which we ac- 
 tually enjoy. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Lord God, infinitely Wise and infinitely Good, who dis- 
 posest all the events of life, and delightest to bring good out 
 of evil, grant me a patient and long suffering spirit, that I 
 may not in sorrow murmur at Thy Gracious Will, nor in my 
 daily life repine at the trials which Thou shalt think fit to 
 appoint for me. Teach me to yield my own wishes, to ob- 
 serve with a thankful heart Thy constant mercies, casting all 
 my care upon Thee, and with the eye of faith seeing beyond 
 the cloud, and looking for those comforts which Thou dost 
 prepare for Thy servants that love Thee, and put their trust 
 in Thee, and have laid up all their hopes in the Bosom of 
 their God. Grant these mercies, 0 Gracious and Loving Fa- 
 ther, for Jesus Christ’s Sake, our dearest Lord and Saviour. 
 Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
My good child, know this, that thou art not able to 
 do these things of thyself, nor to walk in the Command- 
 ments of God, and to serve Him, without His special 
 grace, which thou must learn at all times to call for by 
 diligent prayer. 
 
 
PRAYER, 
 
 “ I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find : 
 knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiv- 
 eth, and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be open- 
 ed. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a 
 stone ? or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent ? or if he 
 shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then being evil, know 
 how to give good gifts unto your children ; how much more shall your 
 Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him St. Luke 
 xi. 9—13. 
 
 “ Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father 
 may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My Name, I will 
 do it.”— St. John xiv. 13, 14. 
 
 “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” — S t. John xvi. 
 24. 
 
 “Be carfeful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 
 with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” — Phil. 
 iv. 6. 
 
 “ Pray witho ut ceasing.” — 1 Thess. v. 17. 
 
 “ The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” — St. 
 James v. 16. 
 
 “ W atch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted wor- 
 thy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before 
 the Son of Man.” — S t. Luke xxi. 86. 
 
 In Heaven the Angels have, and praise ; in Eden 
 we had, and might have praised ; in Heaven again, they 
 who are brought thither safe, shall have of their own, 
 have the “ true riches ” and everlasting joy,” and shall 
 praise for ever. Here, while we are pilgrims and stran- 
 gers, — estranged the more from our homes in that we 
 make this too much our home, — we must pray; for 
 
280 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 then only we possess all things, when we know we 
 “ have nothing.” 
 
 “ Verily, Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall 
 ask the Father in My name. He will give it you.” The 
 words are our Blessed Lord’s ; yet most of us must, at 
 some time or other, have felt painfully how far this great 
 promise has been from being fulfilled to us. We pray 
 against our infirmities, and find ourselves still weighed 
 down by them ; against bad thoughts, and are still 
 haunted by them ; against distractions in prayer itself, 
 and yet wander from our Father’s Presence to the no- 
 thingnesses of this life. Again, our Lord has promised 
 to guide us into His Truth ; yet persons pray on this 
 side and that, in the Church and out of it ; and since 
 they are opposed to each other, some must remain in 
 error. How is it then ? Our Lord has said, “ All 
 things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye 
 shall leceive.” Since, then, “ the Lord’s promise stand- 
 eth sure,” have we no belief that we receive not ? Are 
 we not “asking in His Hame,” that the “Father 
 giveth ” not to us ? And if it be so now, what are our 
 hopes for the future ? or have we any ? 
 
 Alas! of the prayers which come forth from the 
 lips, one must fear that, if we knew the secrets of men’s 
 hearts as God Almighty knoweth them, we should find 
 that of many thousands the real prayers are very few ; 
 so that we can no longer be surprised that prayer is so 
 little heard, when there is reason to fear there is so little 
 of prayer. 
 
 But for those who are in earnest, praying or seek- 
 ing to pray, what are the conditions implied by our 
 
rUA Y'EK. 
 
 281 
 
 Lord’s promise ? So may we see more distinctly 
 whether we are in the way to obtain it. 
 
 It appears that the conditions of prayer which shall 
 be heard are, — 1. A right faith, “ in My Name.” 2. A 
 right life, “if My Words abide in you.” 3. That we 
 be members of His Body, “ if ye abide in Me.” 4. A 
 confidence as to the very subject of our prayers, “ Be- 
 lieving that ye shall have them.” 5. Perseverance. 
 
 “ In My Name :” whatsoever ye shall ask the Father 
 in My Name “He will give it you,” — showing thereby 
 that we must ask Him as One God with the Father ; 
 so that whatsoever is given to our prayers, is given to 
 us equally by the Father and the Son, as being One. 
 And therefore should we seek to impress upon ourselves, 
 by repeating our Creeds, and by earnest meditations, 
 that we approach Him not only as the Redeemer and 
 High Priest, Who was not ashamed “ to call us Breth- 
 ren,” but as our Lord and our God, Who, as God, 
 heareth the prayers, which as God, Who hath taken 
 into Himself our manhood. He presenteth to the Father, 
 with Whom He is One God. So only shall we be saved 
 from irreverence, and pray really in His Great Name. 
 
 “ In My Name not then in any way or degree in 
 our own name, but in His ; not as being anything in 
 ourselves, but acquiring our only right of approaching 
 Him, in that we have been taken out of ourselves, our 
 natural state of nothingness and decay, and have been 
 grafted into Him. This sense of nothingness, then, 
 must be in us, if we would be accepted ; not working 
 ourselves up to feel it, or deceiving ourselves, but con- 
 fessing it by an act of faith as what we know and believe 
 
282 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 of ourselves, though our hearts be too hard, and cold, 
 and stony, to feel it ; and praying Him, Who brought 
 water out of the stony rocks, to moisten our stony 
 hearts with the dew of His Life-giving Spirit, that we 
 may feel it. This is the very essence of all prayer; 
 confession of need to Him, Who alone hath. The 
 parched and gaping earth, the young raven’s cry, the 
 lion’s roar, are set forth to us as so many images of 
 our prayers ; only they, unreasoning as they be, know 
 what they need ; and we, duller still, know not what 
 to ask, and so have the more need to pass by ourselves, 
 and cast ourselves on Him, and pray in His Name, 
 Who has “ all things in Heaven and earth,” to give us 
 what He knows to be good for us ; to give us, above 
 all. His Spirit, Who, when we knew not what we should 
 pray for as we ought, maketh intercession for us with 
 unutterable groanings, and that “ according to the will 
 of God.” 
 
 ‘‘In My Name.” We must then have a right to 
 ask in that Name, and that is if, by being baptized into 
 that Name, we have become members of His Body, and 
 having been made such, do by obedience abide in Him. 
 
 Sin makes persons falter in their prayers, so that 
 they unsay in their hearts what they have said with 
 their lips. They long to pray, half pray, yet dread the 
 condition the hearing of their prayers may involve of 
 strictness, hardness, sacrifice, self-denial ; they would be 
 of God’s side, yet cannot be wholly. Or, again, they 
 would attain some grace, or break off some sin they know 
 of, yet sorne sin they have hidden from themselves bars 
 them from the grace, and gives the mastery to the sin 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 283 
 
 they loathe ; or they would fain attain the truth, but 
 some hidden defect, vanity, self-opinion, love of praise, 
 or ease, sensuality, covetousness, blinds them to it. 
 
 Again, with regard to the matter of our prayers. To 
 use the words of an eminent bishop of our Church, ‘‘We 
 may lawfully ask for whatsoever we need ; but humili- 
 ty and conformity to the Divine Will must attend for 
 an answer, and bring back, not what the public embas- 
 sy demands, but what they have in private instructions 
 to desire, accounting that for the best satisfaction which 
 God pleases ; not what I have either unnecessarily, or 
 vainly, or sinfully desired.” “ If any of you lack wisdom,” 
 saith St. James, “ let him ask it of God : but let him ask 
 in faith, uothing wavering ; ” meaning, that when there 
 is no fault in the matter of our prayers, and no hostility 
 in our persons and manners between God and us, then to 
 doubt were to distrust God. But after we have done 
 all we can, if, out of humility and fear that we are not 
 truly disposed, we doubt of the issue, it is a modesty 
 which will not at all discommend our persons, nor im- 
 pede the event, providing we at no hand suspect either 
 God’s Power or Veracity. Putting trust in God is an 
 excellent advantage to our prayers ; yet distrusting our- 
 selves, and suspecting our own dispositions, though it 
 pulls us back in our actual confidence of the event, so, 
 because it abates nothing of our confidence in God, it 
 prepares us to receive the reward of humility, and 
 not to lose the praise of a holy trusting in the Al- 
 mighty.” 
 
 Prayer must also be persevering ; for, as the same 
 Bishop says again, ‘‘ It is not enough to recommend our 
 
284 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 desires to God with one hearty prayer, and then forget 
 to ask Him any more ; but so long as our needs contin- 
 ue, so long, in all times, and upon all occasions, we must 
 renew and repeat our desires. We do not more desire 
 to be blessed, than God does to hear us importunate for 
 blessing ; and He weighs every sigh, and bottles up 
 every tear, and looks through the cloud with delight to 
 see us upon our knees ; and when He sees His time. 
 His light breaks through it, and shines upon us. Pray 
 till the blessing comes, for we shall never miss to receive 
 our desire, if it be hol}^, or innocent, and safe ; or else 
 we are sure of a great reward of our prayers. 
 
 Such are the conditions of acceptable prayer ; but 
 there is yet oue more point to be considered. 
 
 “ Continue instant in prayer.” The Apostle’s words 
 are strong ; but in his own tongue they are yet stronger. 
 They describe how men would cling and hold fast, 
 mightily putting forth all their strength, to that which 
 was their life, and that which, if they let slip, they per- 
 ished. They speak the very words of our Lord; 
 “ Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be 
 accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall 
 come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 
 And, again, St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians to pray 
 “ always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 
 and watching thereunto with all perseverance.” 
 
 Watchfullness, at all seasons, withaZ/ enduringness. 
 (Observe how this word “ all ” is repeated, lest we should 
 think that anything short of “ all ” of which we were 
 capable, might content us.) For what end ? That we 
 may have the highest posts of honour, and sit at His 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 285 
 
 right hand and His left in His kingdom ? No ! but that 
 we may be safe. 
 
 He who died for us, Love Infinite, bids us watch, 
 ‘‘ praying at all seasons, that so we may be accounted 
 worthy to escape all these things that shall come to 
 pass, and to stand before” Him, “ the Son of Man,” Him 
 who for our sakes became “ the Son of Man,” our Judge, 
 when He shall “judge men according to their works.” 
 
 What are we that we should tamper with God’s 
 Word, and presume to pass over as figurative and im- 
 possible what Christians of old found to be possible and 
 real. How may we venture to say that our Lord, when 
 He bids us pray “ at all times,” means “ sometimes ;” 
 that when God by St. Paul says, “ pray without ceas- 
 ing,” He means, “ pray now and then, but for the most 
 pai’t cease that “ by night and day,” means a few 
 thoughts of God morning and evening ; that to pray at 
 all seasons, means (and this is the very best of these 
 explanations) to “ be at all times in a state fit for pray- 
 er, if we were called upon, but not thinking ourselves 
 called upon ; not to pray except at two seasons perhaps, 
 morning and evening. What is this but to mock God, 
 and to trifle with His Word and our own souls ? 
 
 But men are apt to picture to themselves Christians 
 of old times as different men, not encumbered by world- 
 ly occupations as we are, and that this was possible for 
 them, but not for us. 
 
 It was possible neither for them nor for us ; fasting, 
 prayer, continued, unwearied supplication, are not the 
 works of the flesh : the flesh is too weak ; but by pray- 
 ing they had strength given them to pray continually ; 
 we, by neglecting prayer, have unlearnt to pray. 
 
286 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Who in these days may venture to say what “ to 
 pray without ceasing ” is ? The very best, the few among 
 us, are but learning it. God only can teach men what 
 it is, as He only can help them on each step towards it,^ 
 and will help those who follow him. 
 
 It is easier to say what it is not ; who they are who 
 are not even on their way towards it, and if not, who 
 are not in earnest preparing themselves to stand be- 
 fore the Son of Man, their Judge. Amongst these 
 will be found many persons, industrious, diligent, 
 kindly in their way, but worldly, that is, living for this 
 world, with occasional thoughts, when it must be, of 
 another. 
 
 They then are not even in the way of continual pray- 
 er, who wilfully abstain from any opportunity of com- 
 ing to the House of God ; who come at one time of day, 
 and not another, when, by a little contrivance, or self- 
 denial, they might come at both times ; or who come 
 chiefly for the sermon, and come not when there are 
 prayers only ; or who make the sight of friends, whom 
 they of long time have not seen, a reason for breaking 
 the duty of coming hither ; or excuse themselves by 
 slight illness or other causes ; or who come, but bring 
 their worldly thoughts to the very threshold of God’s 
 Temple, and, as soon as they leave it, take up again, at 
 the very church door, the thoughts, and subjects, and 
 conversation of this world. 
 
 Then again, they who come to church on the Lord’s 
 Day, but even if they have full leisure, come not to the 
 prayers which are provided for them during the week, 
 who would “ rise early and late take rest” for any unusual 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 287 
 
 worldly matter, but will not “ rise early to seek the Lord,” 
 or to order their business so (if it be possible) as to come 
 wlien they can here ; how are they on the way towards 
 continual prayer ? 
 
 He also cannot be said to have and care about con- 
 tinual prayer, who passes any day, between morning 
 and evening, without it ; who lets his thoughts run on 
 through the day on his daily business, without checking 
 them to otfer at least some brief prayer to God ; whoso 
 begins a work without asking God to bless it ; receives 
 ? mercy or his daily food, without blessing Him ; who 
 is beset by any care, and casts it not on God ; who does 
 not consider prayer the main business of life, and does 
 not at least divide each day into portions, and begin, at 
 least, each such portion with some prayer. 
 
 Alas ! many proofs might be numbered up to con- 
 vict us all of not praying continually ; yet our Lord 
 says to each of us, one by one, “ Watch ye therefore, 
 and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to 
 escape all those things which shall come to pass, and to 
 stand before the Son of Mam” 
 
 Who then shall be saved ? 
 
 “ Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, O 
 Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justi- 
 fied.” 
 
 Yet it is not our concern who or how many shall be 
 saved. “ God will have all men to be saved.” By 
 prayer in our Redeemer’s Name we may be saved, not 
 by questioning. 
 
 But it is of infinite moment at once to begin any 
 duty which is put into our thoughts. Let any one, 
 
288 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 therefore, who has been in the habit of negligently go- 
 ing to church but once on the Lord’s day, henceforth 
 go twice ; let him who has prayed solemnly but morn- 
 ing and evening, try to find some settled time in every day 
 between, if but for a short prayer, yet regular prayer. Let 
 him take any one hour which Christians of old set apart 
 for their devotions ; nine^ when our Lord vouchsafed to 
 receive from His creatures the sentence of condemna- 
 tion, to die for us, and when the Holy Ghost first came 
 down upon the Christian Church ; or twelve^ when our 
 Lord was nailed to the cross for us ; or ihree^ when, hav- 
 ing borne for us His Father’s wrath. He resigned his 
 Blessed Spirit into his Father’s Hands ; — and let him 
 lose no time. 
 
 Think on the last four things, death, judgment, hea- 
 ven, hell ; think how much depends upon thy prayers ; 
 — if thou wakest in the night, pray ; when thou wakest 
 in the morning, be thy first thought prayer ; use all the 
 stated means in thy power, and make what thou canst. 
 
 The journey is hard for thee, the way slippery, thy 
 feet easily wearied, thy strength small ; — Oh ! haste thee 
 to the Mountain,” “ the Rock of Ages,” lest thou be 
 consumed. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination, Resolutions, (jbc. 
 
 Consider how often you pray regularly, and resolve, if 
 you have not done so before, to pray at least three times every 
 day. 
 
 Think whether, when you have prayed for any particular 
 blessing or grace, you watch for the answer to your prayer, 
 whether the remembrance passes quickly away from your 
 mind. To forget what we have asked for, shows that we care 
 very little about it. 
 
PRAYER. 
 
 289 
 
 Consider also whether you ask for the same blessing re- 
 peatedly. This we are told especially to do. 
 
 Consider whether your prayers for help are accompanied 
 by earnest resolutions and efforts to subdue your sins. 
 
 Think whether you ever willingly neglect any opportuni- 
 ty of joining in the public services of the Church. 
 
 Consider whether your thoughts naturally turn to prayer 
 for relief when you are ill, or unhappy, or in danger. If 
 they do not, you have still to learn the comfort of prayer. 
 
 Think whether you have ever realised to yourself that we 
 have in Heaven an Intercessor like to ourselves, man as well as 
 God, understanding all our infirmities, and ever ready to offer 
 our imperfect prayers to God. 
 
 Consider whether you are in the habit of praying contin- 
 ually in your heart. But remember that in this, as in every 
 Ollier duty of Religion, the lesson is but slowly perfected. It 
 will be well, therefore, to begin by marking certain periods 
 for morning, noon-day, and evening prayer, and resolving 
 also to pray for help whenever you are tempted to give way 
 to your besetting sin. Afterwards you may learn to keep 
 what are called “ The Hours,” by using besides some short 
 prayer at nine in the morning, three in the afternoon, and six 
 in the evening ; but it will not be desirable to burden your- 
 self by long prayers ; rather they should be such as may be 
 repeated to yourself, whether you are in society or alone. 
 These practices will by degrees accustom you to pray in the 
 midst of your daily occupations, and so give you a habit of 
 continual prayer. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 0 Holy and Eternal God, Who hast commanded us to 
 pray unto Thee in all our necessities, and to give thanks unto 
 Thee for all our instances of joy and blessing; give unto me 
 Thy seiwant the spirit of prayer and supplication, that I 
 may desire that which is for my good, and conform to Thy 
 13 
 
290 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Will, and submit to Tliy disposing, relinquishing my own af- 
 fections and imperfect wishes. Sanctify my heart and spirit, 
 that I may be gracious and accepted in Thine eyes. Give 
 me the humility and obedience of a servant, that I may also 
 have the hope and confidence of a child. Teach me to re- 
 joice in every occasion of Thy public worship, and let the 
 lifting up of my hands be a daily sacrifice in private ; and 
 grant that my prayers, being united to the Intercession ol 
 my Redeemer, and hallowed by His Merits, may ascend 
 thither where Thy Glory dwells, and from whence mercy and 
 eternal benediction descend upon Thv Church. Hear my 
 prayer, 0 Lord, for His Sake, our oi>b^ Mediator and Advo- 
 cate. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER. 
 
 “ Keep tliy foot when thou goest to the House of God, and be more ready 
 to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do 
 evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter 
 any thing before God : for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth ; there- 
 fore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of 
 business ; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.”— Eccles. 
 V. 1 — 3. 
 
 “ When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut 
 thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which 
 seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain 
 repetitions, as the heathen do ; for they think that they shall be heard for 
 their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them ; for your Father 
 knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him.” — St. Matt. vi. 
 
 e-s. 
 
 “ Stand in awe and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your 
 bed, and be still.” — Psalm iv. 4. 
 
 “ O come, let us worship and bow down ; let us kneel before the Lord 
 our Maker. For he is our God ; and we are the people of His pasture, and 
 tlie sheep of His hand.” — Psalm xcv. 6. 7. 
 
 “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His Name ; bring an ofiering ; 
 and come into His courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness ; 
 fear before Him, all the eartli.” — Psalm xevi. 8, 9. 
 
 “ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be accept- 
 able in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.” — Psalm xix. 
 14. 
 
 “ I cried unto Him with my ^outh, and He was extolled with my tongue. 
 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me ; but verily God 
 hath heard me, and attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, 
 who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.” — Psalm 
 Ixvi. 17—20. 
 
 “ Who in the days of His flesh when He had offer- 
 ed up prayers and supplications with strong crying, and 
 
292 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, 
 and was heard in that He feared.” 
 
 Such is the pattern which He, who is our Pattern, 
 gives us of acceptable, effectual prayer. He knew that 
 He should be heard ; and yet the more, because He 
 should be heard, did He with intense suffering, with 
 strong and mighty crying and tears, offer up His prayers 
 and supplications. 
 
 And now for us He hath provided models and words ; 
 He hath given both the pattern to pray, and the words 
 to utter ; His Name wherein to offer them, and His 
 Spirit whereby to utter them ; whilst He, Himself, pre- 
 sents our prayers, cleansed with his own Blood. Yet 
 what are our prayers ? Heavy, for the most part, and 
 earthly ; often unwilling to begin them ; readily falling 
 in with some plea why we should not pray now ; read- 
 ily ceasing: as indeed well may we have no pleasure 
 in prayers such as we too often offer. 
 
 Unwilling to begin, distracted as we go on, glad to 
 make an end, — what a picture this of children coming 
 to an All-bountiful and Gracious Father to have what 
 they ask fori And yet is it not too true? Even 
 of those who really desire to pray, how many have 
 their minds so little controlled at other times, or so 
 thronged with the things of this life, that the thoughts 
 of the world pour in upon them when .they would 
 pray ; and when people come to themselves, they find 
 that while their knees have remained bent where they 
 were, they themselves have been far away ; — talking 
 or acting, competing with a neighbour, or disputing; 
 advancing or aggrandizing themselves, it may be, while 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER. 
 
 293 
 
 in posture they wei’e remaining humble before God ; or 
 resenting a fancied injury, while they were praying for- 
 giveness of their sins ; busied about the things of time 
 and sense, while, by coming before God at all, they were 
 professing that what alone concerns them is Eternity. 
 It is shocking and hideous to ourselves to think what 
 thoughts have been present with us, when we and they 
 together were in the very Presence of God ; and if so to 
 us, whose faculties have been deadened by our sins and 
 our evil habits, what must we have been in His sight ! 
 
 Yet miserable as this is, there is no way at once to 
 be free. Slowly, year by year, and day by day, have too 
 many of us brought this hard bondage upon ourselves, 
 and slowly only may we hope that it will be removed 
 from our necks. Our first labour must be to amend our- 
 selves. Such as we are at other times, such will our 
 prayers be. God helps us in our prayers, as without 
 Him we cannot pray ; but He does so in proportion as 
 we admit His aid in the rest of our life. Our prayers 
 will partake of our other infirmities.. We cannot at 
 once collect ourselves, and become other persons in the 
 Presence of God, from what we were just before. If we 
 are in earnest, we are, of course, in a higher state, when 
 we place ourselves consciously in the Presence of Al- 
 mighty God ; we must become, in a degree, awed, sub- 
 dued, respectful ; we are on our knees ; and the unwont- 
 ed attitude tells people they are on a business other than 
 that of this life ; yet, though raised for the time above 
 their ordinary selves, they are themselves still. A per- 
 son cannot be full of the cares, and riches, and pleasures, 
 and enjoyments, and vanities of this life, up to the very 
 
294 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 moment when he falls down at God’s footstool, and leave 
 these companions of his other hours behind him, so that 
 they will not thrust themselves in with him into the 
 Holy Presence ; and whoso has his thoughts at other 
 times thronged with the manifold concerns of this life, 
 must needs be in a confused dreamy state when he ap- 
 pears before God. 
 
 But still further, even when we would seiwe God, or 
 do our duty in this life, we must see that we do our 
 very duties calmly. There is a religions as well as a world- 
 ly distraction. We may mix up self in doing duty, as well 
 as when we make self our end. Religious excitement, 
 or excitement about things of religion, may as effectual- 
 ly bar our praying as that about worldly things. If our 
 mind be in a whirl, hearing, thinking, speaking, about 
 many things, it matters not whether they relate to the 
 world or the Church, it will be dizzy and distracted 
 when we come to our prayers, and we shall not be able 
 to fix it. 
 
 If, also, you would guard against wandering in pray- 
 er, you must practise yourself in keeping a check upon 
 your thoughts at other times. What we hear and ad- 
 mit into our minds is not a light matter, but one to which, 
 in this busy age in which every one would know about 
 every thing, we must take great heed. Our minds are 
 holy things ; they are the Temples of God ; and so, for 
 His honour’s sake Who has so hallowed them, we 
 should be on our guard what we allow to enter there. 
 We are commanded to beware of idle speaking ; let 
 us beware also of things which foster it, — idle hearing, 
 and idle seeing, and knowledge of idle things. Be 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER. 
 
 295 
 
 not curious about things which concern you not, — 
 what haj)pens in the street, or passes by you, or befalls 
 a neighbour, — unless charity require it of you ; these 
 things waste the mind more than you can well think ; 
 rather recollect that your concern is not with the 
 world; your home, your hope, your abiding, is not 
 here, but in God ; your citizenship is not on earth, but 
 in the Heavens ; your places shall shortly know you no 
 more, — the earth contain no more of you than the dust 
 of your bodies, in keeping for you against the Resurrec- 
 tion. Why then so curious about what is so nothing to 
 you ? 
 
 Then, on the other hand, as we seek during the day 
 to weaken the hold which the world has upon us 
 and our thoughts, so must we to strengthen our own 
 capacity of turning to God. Nothing goes on without 
 breaks, to leave us space to turn to God ; amid conver- 
 sation there is silence ; in the busiest life there are mo- 
 ments, if we would mark them, when we must remain 
 idle. We are kept waiting, or we must hear what is 
 wearisome ; let prayer take the place of impatience : in 
 preparing for business, let prayer take the place of ea- 
 gerness ; in closing it, of self-satisfaction. Are we 
 weary ? be it our refreshment ; strong ? let us hallow 
 our strength by thanksgiving. 
 
 Such are some of the more distant preparations for 
 prayer ; yet there are many more immediate helps, a 
 few of which may be mentioned. Neglect nothing which 
 may produce reverence. A wise choice of a place to 
 pray in is of no small consequence, where people have 
 choice. We are all so far like children, that we are 
 
296 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 creatures of custom and habit ; and it comes to be very 
 much of a help to us, when we would establish ourselves 
 in a habit of praying attentively, to have some one par- 
 ticular room, or part of a room, which is, as it were, 
 hallowed to us by our often using it to that purpose ; to 
 have some place, where, when we kneel to-morrow, the 
 very place itself may recall to us the good thoughts and 
 purposes we had, when praying there to-day ; and how 
 we have kept them, or swerved from them. 
 
 Be careful also not to pass at once from the things of 
 this world to prayer, but collect thyself. Consider thyself 
 a poor, sinful worm of the earth,as entering into direct com- 
 munication with the highest and most retired Heaven ; as 
 speaking words that will be heard beyond the thrones 
 of the most glorious angels ; as thinking thoughts which 
 the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 are attending to, and watching, and ready to cherish, 
 if there be but a spark of Christian sincerity in them. 
 
 It will also help, before you first pray, reverently to 
 repeat your Belief, as confessing before God all He has 
 wrought for you, and His Own Majesty ; or, as they 
 did of old, to think of the last four things. Death, Judg- 
 ment, Heaven, Hell ; what thou hopest, everlasting life ; 
 what thou fearest, increasing misery ; what thou need- 
 est, God’s pardoning, preventing, assisting, perfecting 
 grace, to save thee from the one, and, along a strait and 
 narrow path, to gmide thee to the other. 
 
 Then, as it should be among our last prayers at 
 night, that God should be in our waking thoughts, and 
 when we wake up we should be with God, so should 
 we be very watchful how we allow the things of the 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYElR. 
 
 297 
 
 world to enter into our minds before our first pray* 
 ers. We wake morning by morning to a new life ; the 
 cares and thoughts of yesterday have been buried in 
 our sleep, the turmoil of life is not yet come back to 
 haunt us. We should deal reverently, then, with our 
 first thouglits, and beware how we awaken in ourselves 
 any of the trains of plans, or business, or occupations, 
 which take up our day. Turn away from them reso- 
 lutely, that so thou mayest secure thy first prayers, 
 wherein thou committest thy whole self, soul, body, spirit, 
 for the day to God, undisturbed. Then, watch thyself, 
 what helps or hinders thee to fix thy mind on God. At 
 times, the mind pours itself out most to God when clos- 
 ing the eyes on the outward world ; at times, it prays 
 best by I'iveting the eyes on the very words of its pray- 
 er ; at times, we pray best silently ; at times, the very 
 hearing of the sound of our own prayer impresses it on 
 the mind. If we fail in one way, we should betake our* 
 selves to another ; and so God, seeing us in earnest, 
 will the rather have mercy upon us. Then, as to the 
 very words of our prayers ; we should beware how we 
 pass hastily over any of our prayers. It is not how 
 much we say, but what we pray, which is of real mo- 
 ment. If we are not really masters of our own time, it 
 were better to say but a portion of our prayers, resolv- 
 ing to use what after time we can find for the rest, than 
 to crowd in them more than we can pray ailght ; bet- 
 ter to delay some, than, by hurrying, to risk the loss 
 of all ; but better still to pray God to waken us at the 
 time of prayer, and ourselves rise that we may have 
 time. 
 
208 
 
 READINGS EOR A MONTH. 
 
 Then the best models of prayer consist of brief pe- 
 titions ; so that we may collect our strength and atten- 
 tion for each petition, and so pray on, step by step, 
 through the whole, resting, at each step, on Him Who 
 alone can carry us to the end, and if, by human frailty, 
 we be distracted, going back where we began to wander. 
 
 In public prayer, the case is different ; there, if we 
 wander, the prayers meanwhile go on, and we find that 
 we have lost a portion of our daily bread. Yet the re- 
 medies are the same,— -to come calmly to God’s Temple 
 not thinking or speaking, up to its very threshold, of 
 things of earth, but as men bent on a great service 
 where much is at stake, coming to a Holy Presence, 
 from Whom depends our all ; to pray, as we enter it, 
 that God would guard our thoughts and compose our 
 minds, and fix them on Him ; to employ any leisure be- 
 fore the service begins in thought or private prayer ; to 
 guard our eyes from straying to those around us ; to 
 listen reverently to His Holy Word ; to use the pause 
 before each prayer to ask God to enable us to pray this 
 prayer also ; to beware how we let the mind relax, as 
 though some prayei’s — ‘those which God has especially 
 commanded for Kings and those in authority — were of 
 less importance to us, for this has often been the first in- 
 let and occasion of distraction ; to collect our thoughts 
 with all our might as soon as we perceive that we have 
 wandered ; and, when the “ Amen ” comes, to seek to 
 gather into one the petition of the prayer, and crave, by 
 a hearty assent, to be allowed to join in that which, by 
 our frailty, we have missed. Prayer for pardon should 
 close all prayers ; and if, when returned home, we could 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER. 
 
 299 
 
 find some interval for praying anew any particular pray- 
 er which in public we missed, God would doubtless join 
 us on with Ilis faithful worshippers, look favourably on 
 oiir earnestness, and strengthen us for the future. 
 
 Yet we are not to think that, by these or any othet 
 remedies, distraction is to be cured at once. Distraction 
 has distressed eminent saints ; how much more such as 
 we ! Only it is likely that they were more shocked by 
 one worldly thought intruding upon the Holy Presence, 
 than we by many. 
 
 Distraction will come through weakness, ill health, 
 fatigue ; only pray, guard, strive against it, humble your- 
 selves under it, and long the more for that blessed time 
 when the Redeemed of the Lord shall serve Him day 
 and night without it. 
 
 So may our very infirmities turn to our salvation. 
 God knoweth our necessities before we ask, and our ig- 
 norance in asking, and will give us, we trust, what for 
 our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we 
 cannot, ask. 
 
 Only remember, never to neglect any thought which 
 God puts into thy heart (as He does oftentimes) to pray. 
 The first step on the way to frequent, earnest prayer, is 
 the first step on Jacob’s ladder, its foot on earth, its 
 top in Heaven. Look not above, lest thou faint and 
 sink back ; nor downwards, lest thou turn dizzy ; but 
 go on, step by step, labouring to make thy prayers 
 more and more continual and fervent, and God shall 
 send His angels to conduct thee, and thy Saviour shall 
 intercede for thee, and the Holy Ghost shall strengthen 
 thee, and thou shalt win thy way, step by step, until the 
 
soo 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 cloud of death close round thee ; and then thou shalt 
 find that the first step to continual, earnest prayer was 
 the gate of Heaven.” 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examinatiorij Resolutions^ (he. 
 
 Consider whether you endeavour to prepare your mind 
 before prayer by a recollection of the presence of God and 
 His Awful Majesty. Outward actions help us much in con- 
 trolling our minds. To stand for a few moments before we 
 kneel down to pray, and after we rise up is sometimes an as- 
 sistance in enabling us to feel the importance of the duty on 
 which we are about to enter, or which we have just comple- 
 ted. Many persons kneel down abruptly and rise up in the 
 same way, and so their actions tend to make them irreverent 
 though they are really wishing to be the contrary. 
 
 Tliink whether your mind is crowded with a number of 
 thoughts of pleasure or business^ and try especially to put 
 away those which are unnecessary; such as conjectures as to 
 the future, scenes onl}^ imaginary, speculations respecting the 
 affairs of your neighbours. Whenever you are conscious that 
 you have been indulging in any train of thought for a long • 
 time, it is wise to pause and consider whether it is useful or 
 necessary; and to turn from it if it is not. Engi-ossing* 
 thoughts are the first which it is in our power to check, be- 
 cause they are the first of which we become conscious. By 
 controlling them, we shall the more readily acquire a power 
 over those which come and go so rapidly that they now seem 
 quite out of our reach. 
 
 Consider whether, if you use forms of prayer, you are con- 
 stantly changing them. This often tends to- distraction, 
 because it occupies us with considering whether we like the 
 new prayer, when we ought to-be giving our whole attention 
 to the words we are uttering. It would seem better, when 
 we really want to make a change in our prayers, to consider 
 the matter carefully beforehand and then choose the prayer 
 and resolve to use it for a certain time, a week, a fortnight, & 
 month, as may best suit us. 
 
DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER, 
 
 301 
 
 Think 'whether you talk upon idle subjects as you are going 
 to church, or wlien you come out ofcliurch; and whether 
 3’ou continue your conversation up to the church door, or are 
 reverent!}’ silent, to prepare ^’ouiself before entering. 
 
 Consider if there is any particular part of the service du- 
 ring which your thoughts especially wander, and try to keep 
 a careful watch over yourself at that time ; think, also, 
 whether you keep your eyes from wandering, — whetlier if 
 you see or hear an^^thing strange in church, 3’ou treasure it 
 up in your mind in order to repeat it afterwards. If we do 
 not allow ourselves to repeat things of this kind, we shall be 
 less likely to remark them. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almight}’ God, Pitiful and Gracious, Ac. 
 
 0 Merciful God, to whom alone belong the gift and spirit 
 of prayer, grant me, I beseech Thee, a sober and collected 
 si)irit in m}^ daily life, that m3’ pra3’ers be neither choked 
 with caies nor scattered b}’ levit}’, nor discomposed by 
 passion, nor estranged from Thee by forgetfulness. Set a 
 watch, O Lord, before m}’ mouth, and keep the door of ihy 
 li[)s, when I am about to enter or depart from Th}’ Sanctuar}’; 
 guard my e3’es from wandering after vain imaginations, and 
 fill me with a continual awe of Thy Sacred Presence both in 
 my’ public and my private ap{)roaches to Thee. Let Thy Ho- 
 ly Spirit enkindle in me great fervour, and holy impor- 
 tunity, and unwearied industry ; and may the interces- 
 sion of my Redeemer supply all my* ignorance, and obtain 
 for me support in all my needs, for His Merits, and His 
 Mercy’s sake. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, Ac. 
 
THE HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 
 Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of life ; he that cometh to Me 
 shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. 
 
 “I am the living Bread which came down from heaven. If any man 
 eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever ; and the Bread that I will give is 
 my Flesh, which I will give for the Life of the world. The Jews, there- 
 fore, strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us His Flesh 
 to eat ? Then Jesus said unto them. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of 
 Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my 
 Flesh and drinketh my Blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at 
 the Last Day. For my Flesh is Meat indeed, and my Blood is Drink in- 
 deed. He that eateth my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in Me, 
 and I in him. As the Living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father, 
 so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. 
 
 “ This is that Bread which came down from heaven ; not as your fathers 
 did eat manna, and are dead ; he that eateth of this Bread shall live for 
 ever.”— St. John vi. 35, 51-58. 
 
 “The celebration of the Holy Sacrament of the 
 Lord’s Supper,” says Bishop Taylor, “ is the great mys- 
 teriousness of the Christian Religion. In it the Sacri- 
 fice of the Cross, which ‘Christ offered for all the sins 
 and all the needs of the world, is represented to God by 
 the minister, and offered up in prayer and sacramental 
 memory, and all the benefits of that Sacrifice are there 
 conveyed, to all that communicate worthily. There all 
 the members of Christ are joined with each other, and 
 all to Christ, their Head ; and we again renew the cov- 
 enant with God in Jesus Christ, and God seals His part, 
 
Tllli HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 303 
 
 and we promise for ours. There our bodies are nour- 
 ished with the signs, and our souls with the mystery : 
 our bodies receive into them the seed of an immortal 
 nature, and our souls are joined with Him, Who is the 
 Fii*st Fruits of the Resurrection, and never can die. 
 And if we desire anything else, and need it, here it is 
 to be prayed for, here to be hoped for, here to be re- 
 ceived.” 
 
 “ After all this it is advised by the guides of souls, 
 wise men and pious, that all persons should communi- 
 cate very often, even as often as they can without ex- 
 cuse or delay ; everything that puts us from so holy an 
 employment when we are moved to it, being either 
 a sin or an imperfection, an infirmity or indevotion, and 
 an inactiveness of spirit. All Christian people must 
 come. They, indeed, that are in the state of sin must 
 not come so, but yet they must come. First, they must 
 quit their state of death, and then partake of the bread 
 of life. They that are at enmity with their neighbours 
 must come ; that is no excuse for their not coming ; 
 only they must not bring their enmity along with them, 
 but leave it, and then come. They that have a variety 
 of secular employments, must come ; only they must 
 leave their secular thoughts and affections behind them, 
 and then come and converse with God. If any man be 
 well grown in grace, he must needs come, because he is 
 excellently disposed to so holy a feast ; bftt he that is 
 in the infancy of piety had need to come, that so he 
 may grow in grace. The strong must come lest they 
 become weak, and the weak that they may become 
 strong. The sick must come to be cured, the healthful 
 
304 
 
 REIADINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 to be preserved. They that have leisure must come, 
 because they have no excuse ; they that have no leisure 
 must come hither, that by so excellent religion they 
 may sanctify their business. The penitent sinners must 
 come, that they may be justified ; and they that 
 are justified, that they may be justified still. ^ They 
 that hcTve fears and great reverence to these mysteries, 
 and think no preparation to be sufficient, must re- 
 ceive, that they may learn how to receive the more wor- 
 thily ; and they that have a less degree of reverence 
 must come often, to have it more heightened ; that, as 
 those creatures that live amonofst the snows of the moun- 
 tains turn white with their food and conversation with 
 such perpetual whitenesses, so our souls may be trans- 
 formed into the similitude and union with Christ, by our 
 perpetual feeding on Him, and conversation not only in 
 His Courts, but in His very Heart, and most secret af- 
 fections, and incomparable purities.” 
 
 Considerations such as these are important to all, 
 especially to those who are about for the first time to 
 be brought near to their Lord in Holy Communion, and 
 who are bound seriously to consider whether they are 
 firmly resolved never from henceforth to shrink from of- 
 fering themselves “ a reasonable, holy, and lively sacri- 
 fice” to His service at His Holy Table. 
 
 We are indeed set in the midst of many and great 
 dangers. Th^,re are many paths to hell ; one only, and 
 that a narrow one, to Heaven. We have many and 
 great gifts. These gifts, by misusing them or not using 
 them, may become our destruction. What then ? Shall 
 we refrain, because there is danger ? Neither can this be. 
 
THE HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 305 
 
 For every means of grace we shall have to give account 
 before God ; for those we have neglected as for those 
 we have used. God hath set dangers on all sides, that 
 we may not shrink back, but may go onward in the one 
 path which leadeth unto Him. The wilderness shut- 
 teth us in ; the sea is before, and the enemy behind ; 
 but God will place His pillar of fire between the enemy 
 and us, and the sea shall part, and that which was our 
 enemy shall be our safeguard. A narrow path it is, but 
 the sea which would devour us shall be a wall on the 
 right hand and on the left, to fence us in from straying, 
 and protect us against the enemy ; and so will He conduct 
 us to the promised land. 
 
 Come then we must; and so, though with trem- 
 bling hearts, and faint steps, mistrusting ourselves, but 
 trusting in God, we will come. 
 
 He invites Who willeth not the sinner’s death ; Who 
 w^arneth us that He may not strike. Who correcteth 
 that He may not destroy.. None is excluded, who ex- 
 cludeth not himself; “holy things are for the holy,” 
 and whoso will not be holy must depart ; w^e must part 
 with our sins or with Christ. But to all who are faith- 
 ful ; to all who are truly penitent, or earnestly desire to be 
 so ; to all who loathe their sins, or wish to loathe them ; 
 to all who desire to be partakers of the holiness of God ; 
 to have strength against temptation ; might to do God’s 
 will : life, light, glory, joy, peace, immortality ; the love 
 of God, the grace of Christ, the Communion of the Holy 
 Ghost, — the Church says come, “ Taste and see that the 
 Lord is gracious ; ” come unto “ Christ ” all “ that tra- 
 vail, and are heavy laden,” and He will “ refresh you.” 
 
306 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Our safety is not in keeping away from our Redeem- 
 er ; but in drawing near lowlily, and guarding ourselves 
 watchfully. If we but come with true and honest and 
 humble hearts, what in us is lacking, He who gave us 
 what we have will supply. He will teach us to make 
 Him, in all things, our End ; to desire nothing in com- 
 parison with Him : nothing, if need be, but Him ; to 
 make His Cross our badge, our glory, and our stay : 
 His Will,- our only will ; His Passion, our defence ; His 
 Death, our life ; His Resurrection, the source of our life, 
 our one endless and unfailing hope. He will vouchsafe 
 to us new strength and life, and by His Indwelling, All- 
 empowering Might, will carry us to the end of our being, 
 our hopes, our fears, our sufferings, our disappointments, 
 the faintnesses of our heart, the fadings of earth’s bright- 
 est joys, even to the Mount of God, there not to hear 
 of Him only “ with the hearing of the ear,” in “ the still 
 small Voice,” but with Unveiled Face, for ever to be- 
 hold, for ever adore, for ever love Himself. 
 
 Let us not faint that we cannot realise all this at 
 once. Let us commit our ways unto Him ; ” take the 
 first step he biddeth us, and He will go before us, and 
 we shall hear His Voice and follow Him. 
 
 Neither let us fear lest we should not be able to per- 
 severe. The gift we seek, if we seek it earnestly, will 
 itself bind us fast with the sure cords of love, and up- 
 lift our hearts, and knit them unto Him. We come to 
 Him “ in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge,” in Whom “ dwelleth all the fulness of 
 the Godhead,” Whose mercies fail not, but are new ev- 
 ery morning. Where should be the limits of His Love, 
 
THE IIOEY COMMUNION. 
 
 307 
 
 Who is Infinite, or of His Mercy to us, Who, being 
 God, for our sakes became as we, that we might be as 
 Himself? 
 
 But since the more we ask, the more He giveth, 
 Who is “ always more ready to give than we to pray,” 
 such practices as these have been found useful. 
 
 While you desire that He, the Source of all Grace 
 and Love, should dwell in your soul, so especially ask at 
 each Communion that He would give you, with Him- 
 self, some special Grace which you feel you most need, 
 as opposed to the sin which doth most easily beset you. 
 Pray that He Himself would, by Himself, conform you 
 to Him. Pray that you may be humble, as He was 
 “ meek and lowly in heart ; ” fervent, as He prayed 
 earnestly and with His Bloody Sweat for us in the gar- 
 den ; meek, as He was “led as a lamb to the slaughter,” 
 and prayed for His torturers there. Desire this with 
 your whole heart. So you will come to the Holy Com- 
 munion, not only with the general hope of receiving 
 grace and strength, but with the strong desire to be 
 strengthened in the one grace, wherein ye are now 
 weakest. With this prayer, offer, on your part, by His 
 Grace, to cut off this or that way of acting, wherein 
 your infirmity shows itself ; to do firmly this or that 
 which it is now hard to do. Then examine thyself 
 carefully on this one point before each Communion, and 
 by the Grace of God you will gain much, both in 
 earnestness of purpose, and in growth in Grace. 
 
 Again, since you desire that your Lord should dwell 
 in your heart, forget Him not, when you have received 
 Him. Collect yourself, from time to time, during the 
 
308 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 day, in His Presence; commune with Him, pray Him, 
 “ Abide with me. Lord.” Pray Him to guard thee, 
 within and without, against all which may offend Him, 
 to deepen in thee whatever Grace thou hast asked for. 
 Watch jealously over every thought and member. Re- 
 member that your Lord dwelleth in you, and speak, 
 act, and think as in His Presence. Watch over all 
 the inlets of your senses. Let not the eyes, which He 
 has enlightened, wander after sights of vanity ; nor the 
 ears, which He has unstopped, be filled with sounds of 
 this world ; nor the taste be over-anxious about the 
 things which perish in the using ; nor the tongue speak 
 idle, or vain, or detracting, or unloving words ; nor the 
 mind be scattered amid the distractions of this world. 
 We have offered up ourselves, our souls and bodies, on 
 the Altar of His Cross, as a reasonable, holy, and living 
 Sacrifice unto God ; let us see that a subtle love of the 
 world awake not ao:ain in us. 
 
 For due preparation we need not fear that lawful 
 occupations will not leave us time. Daily Communion 
 was long the privilege of all Christians, still longer of 
 our Western Churches. And yet St. Paul’s command, 
 “let a man examine himself,” was obeyed then. If we 
 be only in earnest, or long to be so, “ the Lord will pro- 
 vide.” As the light of day is shed around us, and we 
 are conscious of its presence, and gladdened by it, and 
 yet our eyes behold only the more distinctly all upon 
 which it falls, so may the Sun of our souls be ever pre- 
 sent to them, and we rejoice in His Presence, and yet 
 see and do our several duties, not only unhindered by 
 our thoughts of God, but more distinctly, and with 
 
THE HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 309 
 
 readier mind and will. Do not neglect preparation on 
 any day, because tliou canst use all the prayers thou 
 wouldst. God does not look on .the length of the pray- 
 ers, but on the desire of the heart. ‘‘ lie who accepts 
 the cup of cold water given to a disciple in His Name,” 
 from those who have no larger gift to offer, will accept 
 brief prayers, darted up out of the midst even of occu- 
 pation, to Him. He, who accepted the “ two mites ” 
 looks not at the amount of the gift, but at the store out 
 of which it is given, and the faith and love which ofler 
 it. Of time too, it may be said, “ If thou hast much, 
 give plenteously, if thou hast little^ do thy diligence 
 gladly to give of that little ; for so gatherest thou thy- 
 self a good reward in the day of necessity.” 
 
 Let us do these things with faithful hearts, and He, 
 Who seeth in secret, will meet us in the way of right- 
 eousness, and guide our steps, and reward openly the 
 work “ which He hath wrought in us.” He will anew 
 cleanse the defilements which we bewail ; fill up the 
 scars our sins have left ; repair the decays which in our 
 forgetfulness, or wilfulness, we contract ; heal our in- 
 firmities, that in Mercy and Loving-kindness He may 
 crown us. He will make each Holy Communion a 
 herald of that glorious Easter Morn, when shadows shall 
 flee away, and night, and time, and sin, and infirmity, 
 and death, shall be no more ; when all who are His, 
 shall meet for ever in Llis Presence and joy before 
 Him. 
 
 Oh ! what will that Blessed Morn be, when “ if 
 found in Him,” we shall not behold Him, as now, afar 
 off, but “ tace to Face” “ in His Beauty,” when He Who 
 
310 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 has tended us all our lives long, called us to His Feet, 
 made us members of His Body, Who bore our sins up- 
 on the Cross, bore so long time with our frailties, and 
 wilfulness, and sins, interceded for us, fed us with His 
 Own Body, washed us with His Own Blood, was Him- 
 self our hidden Life — He, our Redeemer, Mediator, 
 Who wept for our sins, and gave us tears to weep our 
 own. Who became Man for our salvation, that He 
 might make us gods, shall appear to us openly, and call 
 to His Side those who would at last be kept by Him, 
 and whom He has kept. Oh ! how in the Dawn of 
 that Ineffable Brightness, shall w^e rejoice, if, when in 
 this life He called us to a nearer Communion with Him, 
 and a more devoted service, and stricter trying of our 
 ways, and more exact obedience, we hearkened to His 
 Call ! And yet that Dawn shall be but the opening of 
 an Endless Bliss, which we then shall not yet know — 
 Bliss which “ eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 hath entered into the heart of man ; ” the “ Joy of Our 
 Lord,” the Joy which our Redeeming Lord and God 
 hath in the Unity of the Eternal Godhead, and into 
 which — the Joy of our own Lord — His Redeemed 
 shall enter. 
 
 Suggestions for Self Exammation^ Resolutions^ &c. 
 
 Consider whether you intend to receive the Holy Com- 
 munion merely because you have been told that it is right to 
 do so ; or whether you look upon your admission to it as an 
 inestimable Privilege which it would be an infinite loss to 
 you to forego. 
 
 Think whether you are putting off any good resolutions, or 
 the beginning of any good habits until after you have receiv- 
 
THE HOLY COMMON 10 
 
 311 
 
 ed the Holy Cotniiiunioii. This is a dangerous sign. Thoughts 
 of delay show that you are not in earnest. 
 
 Consider whether 3^011 are leaving undecided the question 
 whether 3^011 will or will not be a constant Communicant. 
 Persons often fane3^ because they do not make up their minds 
 to neglect a duty, that they are leaving themselves free to 
 perform it, whereas it is exactly the reverse. If, in such cases, 
 we do not at once resolve to do right, we shall infallibly be 
 led to do wrong. 
 
 Think whether now you ever allow yourself, from trifling 
 causes, to neglect your fixed times of prayer, and reading, 
 and self-examination. If you do, there is very great reason 
 to fear that it will be the same as regards the Hol3^ Communion; 
 nnd it is therefore incumbent upon you to be more stilct at 
 once ill the duties which lie before you. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, (fee. 
 
 O Almighty Father, King of Glory, Who hast from thy 
 Bosom sent Thy Son to take upon Him our nature, and in 
 Him hast opened the fountains of Thy Mercy, admit me, Thy 
 unworthy servant, to Thy favour and loving -kindness. Re- 
 fresh and comfort me with Thy heavenly Nourishment, and 
 grant that, drawing near to my Redeemer with the approach- 
 es of humilit3-, and earnest desire to be cleansed from my 
 sins, I 11^3" be united to Him by the nearest and most mj^s- 
 terious union in the Sacramental participation of His Most 
 Holy Body and Blood. Let me never turn aside from these 
 Holj' Mysteries, or neglect the preparation of the heart in 
 receiving them, but grant that being filled with the Bread 
 of Heaven, and armed with the strength of the Spirit, I may 
 begin, continue, and finish my journey through this valley of 
 tears unto my portion of Thy Heavenl3^ Kingdom, whither 
 Our Lord is gone before, to prepare a place for every loving 
 and obedient soul. Grant this, 0 Eternal God, for His sake 
 Who died for us, and intercedes for us, and gives himself daily 
 to us, our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen. 
 
 Our Father, <fec. 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing 
 I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
 things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus.” — Phil, iii, 13, 14. 
 
 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling 
 and election sure.” — 2 St. Peter i. 10. 
 
 “ Add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue knowledge ; and to knowledge 
 temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness ; and 
 to godliness brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness charity. For 
 if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither 
 be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But 
 he thatlacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar olf, and hath fu'- 
 gotten that he was purged from his old sins.” — 2 St. Peter i. 5 — 9. 
 
 “ The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward 
 another, and toward all men.” — 1 Tiiess. iii. 12. 
 
 “ To the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness be- 
 fore God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with 
 all His saints.”—! Tiiess. iii. 13. 
 
 “ The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and 
 more unto the perfect day.” — Prov. iv. 18. 
 
 In nature or in grace, there is no standing still : 
 when the sun ceases to ascend, it sinks ; when days no 
 longer lengthen, they become briefer ; when the sea 
 ceases to flow, it ebbs; when all things fair cease to in- 
 crease in beauty, they decrease ; when strength is no 
 longer enlarged, it lessens. On the ladder which 
 reached to Heaven, none stood still ; all were ascending 
 towards God, or descending towards the earth. 
 
 “ Our nature being subject to change,” says a father, 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 313 
 
 “so long as this our mortality endures, although it be 
 advanced to the very highest earnest love of all excel- 
 lence, still ever, as it may fall back, so also may it grow.” 
 
 Yes ! Wherever we are in the Christian course, 
 as we have all one End, God ; one Faith, in the one 
 Object of Faith, the Ever-blessed, Co-equal, Co-eternal 
 Trinity ; one Hope, to see Him ; one Food of life. Him- 
 self in His Sacrament ; one Spirit, Who is the Life of 
 all the members of the One body ; so also there is one 
 only Way to Heaven, to walk on in Him Who is the 
 Way, to hold fast that we have, and to press onward. 
 
 In Holy Baptism, God recreates us in His own Im- 
 age, passes His Hand upon us, puts the first germ of 
 spiritual life wdthin us, to grow, be nourished, expand, 
 flower, bear fruit, until it take into itself all our old na- 
 ture, and we shall become wholly new. It is a spark 
 from Heaven, which should be fanned into a flame by 
 the breath of charity, and burn within us, until it has 
 consumed all low desires, all selfish thoughts, everything 
 which often deth, and yield us jDure, a holy acceptable 
 sacrifice to God. 
 
 Such should our Christian course be ; such is the 
 blessed course — a gradual daily growth, from the first 
 hour when we awake to the thought of God and of our 
 own deathless being, to our final passage through death 
 to endless life. Amid manifold hindrances, it may be, 
 will be this growth, sometimes slower, then with quick- 
 ened life, with fresh impulses, starting into new life, yet 
 on the whole — even while we grieve over our slowness, 
 one steadfast, should it be, though often unperceived, 
 growth upwards, Heavenwards. 
 
 14 
 
314 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Day by day we must grow or decay; yet day by 
 day we rise, and night by night lie down, and see not, 
 except rarely, the growth of others or our own. For it 
 is the very marvellousness of God’s works, in nature, in 
 the Church, in each single soul, that they go on so 
 noiselessly. “ Axe and hammer ” are not heard, but 
 the House of the Lord is raised without hands. 
 
 We may “count over our falls and bruises, and God’s 
 mercies in upholding us when we have not fallen ; we 
 may know our own secret groanings that we are no 
 other than we are : the frailness of our prayers and our 
 longings to pray ; our coldness and selfishness and our 
 desire' to love : our pride and our desires to be humble; 
 our struggles, surprises, the cloudings of our mind ; 
 how some besetting sudden sins have overtaken us un- 
 awares. We find ourselves angry when we meant to 
 rebuke aright : we meant to eat for health, and find we 
 have been self-indulgent ; to speak of self for profit, 
 and fear it is vanity ; to do good, and fear we have been 
 too forward ; to avoid injuring others, and fear it has 
 been a cowardly keeping back of the truth ; to rest 
 from weariness, and find it sloth. Our very duties per- 
 plex, and we know not whether we have chosen aright. 
 In prayer we fear lest we have omitted active duty, or 
 active duty have displaced some measure of our prayer; 
 we have to beAvail our sins, and yet be ’of a cheei-ful 
 countenance ; penitents, but do our part as though we 
 had been holy. Then how much of us is hidden from 
 ourselves. Satan darts thoughts into our hearts, and we 
 know not whether we gave not a moment’s assent to 
 them, though, when aware, we loathe them ; we scarce 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 315 
 
 know whether an angry thought have been our own, 
 or our penalty and trial. Much trial is withdrawn from 
 us, and we know not what we should be if again ex- 
 posed to it ; we dread lest we fall not, only because Sa- 
 tan is not permitted to try us in earnest ; we feel our- 
 selves encompassed with death, and see not how it is to 
 end in life. 
 
 And so we must be content oftentimes to abide, in 
 fear, yet in hope, knowing what we deserve, and hoping 
 what we do not deserve for His sake Who deserved it 
 for us : a mystery to ourselves as to others ; “ fashioned 
 in secret ” even from ourselves. This is our comfort and 
 stay, that we are fashioned. “We made not ourselves, 
 but He made us,” and He, our Maker, remakes us. 
 Did we make ourselves, we might well be concerned 
 that we see not what we are becoming ; now, we may 
 trust, that although in secret, still we are being fashioned 
 into “ a vessel fit for the Master’s use.” 
 
 Still, although we know not where we are, how 
 much has been or is being wrought in us, what our pro- 
 gress, we must know that something is being wrought. 
 We may not be conscious that we are growing in grace, 
 but we must be that we are acting under grace. We 
 may not see how direct our path is (that we shall see, 
 as it becomes straighter), but if we are moving upward, 
 we must make efforts and feel them. 
 
 Downwards, persons may float unperceived, but it 
 is to the gulf; descent alone is quiet, easy, painless, but 
 it is — to Hell. We cannot win our way without re- 
 sistance, nor resist self without consciousness and pain. 
 If we feel not the clog which our sinful nature hangs 
 around us, it is because we are following it. 
 
316 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 But although day by day we must grow or decay, 
 yet is not the amount of our growth in our power ? By 
 the grace of God alone can we grow ; and that flows 
 into us more largely or more scantily, according to what 
 we have ourselves become. If we have allowed our 
 hearts to grow cold, or worldly, we cannot at once love 
 or serve God, or have that alacrity and energy of faith, 
 which is the blessing of His more faithful servants. We 
 cannot at once have great love, or deep humility, or an 
 active soul, or a reverent spirit, or a devout mind. We 
 can neither at once unlearn evil habits wholly, nor learn 
 great virtues. We can rarely bound in our Christian 
 course — step by step is the toilsome ascent to be won. 
 Single acts of virtue, wrought by the grace of God, are 
 the steps to Heaven. If in these we correspond to the 
 grace of God, He will give larger increase. It may be 
 He will bring us into some new trial, in which, if by 
 His grace we conquer. He will make us other persons. 
 One decisive deed well done, solely for His glory and 
 His love, one trial well surmounted by Ilis grace, will 
 often, through His mercy, lift persons up at once far 
 beyond their measure. One fervent act of self-devo- 
 tion to our Lord, giving ourselves for life or death, weal 
 or woe, to His Blessed and Almighty Will, surrendering 
 ourselves and all which is ours wholly into His Hands 
 without reserve, to dispose of us wholly as He wills, and, 
 it may be, we shall find His Gracious Hand on ours, 
 leading us to follow His steps, although it be to Calvary. 
 
 But the morrow of grace is no more in our power, 
 than of time. The first act for which He gives us grace 
 is ours; all beyond is God’s. As we use the present 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 S11 
 
 He ^vill give tlie future. We may not despair then, 
 v’hen we see any grace of reverence, or deep love, or 
 lowly humility, or instant fervent thankfulness, which 
 we have not, nor yet must we attempt to transplant it 
 at once full grown into ourselves. Let us do, what by 
 His grace we can ; but let us not act as if we had what 
 as yet we have not. If we humble ourselves that we 
 can no more, it may be He will look upon our humility, 
 and give us what we are grieved that we have not. 
 
 But although God forms us day by day, yet are 
 there, from time to time, seasons of larger growth ; as 
 in nature, so in grace. God, in His Mercy, gives us 
 fresh starting points in our Christian race. Some such 
 most of us perhaps have passed ; too many, it is to be 
 feared, have wasted. Such are childhood’s earliest trials. 
 The bitter fruits we have felt in ourselves from some 
 one sin of childhood, some neglect of God’s loud warn- 
 ing, or His call, may make us sorrowfully estimate the 
 deep value of such calls, had we obeyed. Such periods, 
 again, when used aright, are Holy Confirmation and 
 the first Communion. Yea, so full is this of the richness 
 of God’s treasure, that thoughtful persons have said, 
 that none ever went far astray, whose first Communion 
 was diligently prepared for and received and treasured 
 holily. 
 
 Those solemn times of Confirmation and first Com- 
 munion will for many now soon be over. 
 
 God grant that their fragrance may not pass away, 
 but may remain “as the smell of a field which the Lord 
 hath blessed,” “ a sweet savour of Christ ” unto Life Ever- 
 lasting. 
 
318 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 Yet that it be so, we must take some pains, by God’s 
 grace, to fix that grace in our souls, that it evaporate 
 not in feelings, whatever we may have, nor even in ex- 
 pressions of thankfulness towards Almighty God Him- 
 self. And to this end it may by His gracious aid be of 
 some help to name some few simple rules, familiar to 
 the advanced, yet useful to beginners. 
 
 Whatever you attempt, impress on the mind, and 
 pray God there to write a deep consciousness of your 
 own helplessness and inability to begin, or continue, or 
 hold on in any good ; and this, not in the w^ay of formal 
 acknowledgment, but acting upon it, whatever else you 
 are doing, in continual, quick, instantaneous prayer for 
 the aid of God. This very habit itself plainly cannot 
 be gained at once. For, gained, it is to live in Heaven 
 in continual intercourse with God. It must be His 
 gift, and He will bestow it upon us in degrees, as we 
 use faithfully His secret drawings to look up to Him. 
 
 Next, when we have surveyed our own hearts, in 
 order to know more clearly what are our chief ene- 
 mies, it is advised to select some one, by God’s grace, 
 to exterminate. In so doing, we shall not neglect the 
 rest. If we give ourselves with earnest purpose to de- 
 stroy one of God’s foes within us. He will, for the 
 time, keep the others chained, that they hurt us not. 
 To this one conflict then we should bring all our spirit- 
 ual force to bear. The same sin will show itself in dif- 
 ferent forms. How, for instance, will sloth or vanity 
 poison or mar every action of our life. Let us resist it 
 then in all, mortify it in all ; in every conflict praying 
 God for grace, in every victory giving Him the glory 
 
PKOGKESS. 
 
 319 
 
 Let it be the object of our earliest thoughts. In the 
 morning, let us consider the occasions wherein we are 
 likely thus to be tried, about mid-day, if we can (it 
 much lightens our task at night), review minutely our 
 progress or defeats in it, and again, at least, at night. 
 Let us meditate on the opposite virtue in our Blessed 
 Lord ; let us gaze on Him until we be ashamed to be 
 proud or vain members of Him AVho stooped from 
 Heaven to our lowliness ; or slothful members of Him 
 Who so watched, toiled, was wearied, in seeking us. 
 
 Then, let us strive not only to uproot the sin, but to 
 implant the opposite grace. This is often easier than 
 simply to combat sins. It is even easier, for instance, 
 to become very meek, tlian simply to restrain out- 
 breaks of anger ; for so must we throw ourselves, 
 more out of ourselves, wholly upon the grace and 
 strength of God. 
 
 For this grace also we should pray fervently ; for 
 this ask, that when in the Holy Communion He vouch- 
 safes to “ come under our roof,” He would bring it to 
 our souls. To this let the reverential reading of Holy 
 Scripture be directed ; and let us be on the watch how 
 to practise it. 
 
 If not at once, yet slowly will our fault bleed to 
 death. But let every step be in “ mistrust in self, and 
 trust in God.” And as we make progress in our spirit- 
 ual conflict, we shall see what occasions are most hurt- 
 ful to us, in what way our sin most steals upon us or 
 assails us ; and so we can either by ourselves, or by 
 help of some one who has the care of human souls, 
 form rules to ourselves, how we can keep off the occa- 
 
320 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 sion, or be strengthened under it ; for to come into temp- 
 tation with no fixed rule to guide us, nothing to appeal 
 to against our biassed judgment, is to give ourselves 
 over to defeat. 
 
 It will also be an aid in all our conflicts to place 
 ourselves in the Presence of God by an act of the mind, 
 “ Thou, God, seest me ; ” or to have some brief aspiration 
 through the day to which our minds may often recur, 
 forming in our souls a secret cell, in which, retiring 
 from the world, we may even amid the world hold brief 
 converse with our God ; or again — to count nothing 
 small, wherein we, may please God, to seek in all our 
 thoughts, words, or acts, to please God alone, to do 
 little things, to accept each little or somewhat greater 
 cross for His Will’s sake ; to seek in all things to con- 
 form our will to His, and to count all things gain to us 
 which are permitted by His Righteous Will. 
 
 Yet whatever we would gain, let us seek as the 
 first, best gift of all, the gift of love. For “ love is the 
 fulfilling of the law.” And then shall we gain real vic- 
 tories when ‘‘ faith worketh by love.” 
 
 And, as we began with God, so with Him would 
 we end. He that persevereth unto the end shall be 
 saved. Perseverance to the end is the crowning gift 
 of God, and given to all who pray for it, to none, per- 
 haps, who do not pray for it. Again and again we be- 
 gin well, but again and again after a time we grow 
 weary, or other imagined duties or employments inter- 
 fere, and we lay aside what we had well begun, and 
 found good to our souls, not because it ceased to be so, 
 but because we had not bound our unstable souls fast 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 321 
 
 unto Him, the Unchangeable, by constant prayer for 
 perseverance. 
 
 Oh ! then, wherever ye are in the Christian course, 
 whereunto ye have attained, walk on with God, and pray 
 for perseverance to the end. 
 
 If ye have ever known any sweetness of the Heav- 
 enly things, if in any season of earnest purpose, ye have 
 felt any thrill of joy at the thought of the approach of 
 your God, if even in the refusal to “ do ” some “ wick- 
 edness and sin against God,” or on taking up again 
 some neglected duty, or doing some deed of self-deny- 
 ing love, ye have known some gleam of the bliss of be- 
 ing in one mind with God, walk on with Him, and pray 
 for perseverance to the end. 
 
 They are the first faint dawning streaks of a glo- 
 rious Day. Yea the richest brightness of earth’s most 
 glowing glorious light, as compared with the first 
 gleams which just break through the darkness, were a 
 faint image of the inward light of that soul which 
 makes God its only End, its Riches, its Delight, its All. 
 For what were the brightest light which God ever 
 kindled in the soul of man, what the sweetness of those 
 unutterable words which St. Paul heard, ' what the 
 beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem which St. John saw. 
 “ which the Glory of God did lighten, and the Lamb 
 was the Light thereof,” compared to that glory, and 
 sweetness, and brightness, which not even Apostle’s “ eye 
 hath seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man hath con- 
 ceived ; ” for it is God Himself seen face to Face ; it is 
 the Sight, the Embrace, the Love of God. Take the 
 first step ; break off the sin thou knowest ; seek, by 
 
S22 
 
 READINGS FOR A MONTH. 
 
 God’s grace, to gain some one grace thoulackest; pray 
 to persevere to the end ; and that Sight, that Embrace, 
 that Love is thine. 
 
 Faithful is He who calleth you, Who also will do 
 it. 
 
 Suggestions for Self-Examination^ Resolutions^ etc. 
 
 Think whether, in looking back upon the past, you can, 
 upon the whole, hope you have improved, or whether you 
 have been living a life of indifference, and lukewarmness. 
 Conscience will soon answer this, though you may not be 
 able to trace any great progress in particular points. 
 
 Think whether in your ordinary pursuits you are con- 
 tented to do things toleroMy, instead of trying to do them in 
 the best Way they can be done. The same habit of mind 
 will tell against you in more important matters, and it is 
 well to remember that everything we attempt may there- 
 fore be made a lesson in practising ourselves in that earnest 
 striving which will alone bring us to a crown of glory in 
 Heaven. 
 
 Think whether you look upon the lives of those who are 
 much more holy than yourself as upon something quite be 
 yond you, and therefore which you need not attempt to 
 reach. This quiet acquiescence in inferiority is most injurious 
 to the Christian character. There is not one of us who could 
 not live the life of a saint if he chose to take the right means 
 towards it. 
 
 Think whether you are always endeavouring to avoid 
 difficulties, to escape self-denial, to delay doing things which 
 are disagreeable. This again is like a continual frost, check- 
 ing the growth of Christian virtues. Continual energy is 
 what we require. To some people it has been given as a 
 part of their natural disposition, and they will have to ac- 
 count for the use made of it. If, therefore, you are energetic 
 by nature, consider whether you have made as great efforts 
 after goodness as you have for the attainment of any earthly 
 
PROGRESS. 
 
 323 
 
 knowledge or advantage. If your powers have been expend- 
 ed upon worldly objects, they will only render the accusa- 
 tion against you so mucli the more fearful. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, Pitiful and Gracious, <fec. 
 
 O Blessed and Eternal God, the Father of Mercy and Ho- 
 liness, enlighten my understanding that I may see the won- 
 drous things of Thy Law, and kindle in me a desire to obey 
 them, which no difficulty or contradiction, no temptation 
 within or persecution without, may ever extinguish. Give 
 me a mighty grace, that I may seek to please Thee with my 
 best and all my services, to follow the best examples, to do 
 the noblest charities, to pursue all perfection, ever pressing 
 forward to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Let 
 me rather choose to die than to sin against my conscience. 
 Let me also watch that I may omit nothing of my duty, nor 
 pass by any opportunity by which Thou canst be glorified or 
 any Christian instructed, comforted, or assisted, so that not 
 resting in the stinted measures of command, but striving af- 
 ter works of fervent love, and things by which thou mayest 
 be greatly pleased, Thou mayest delight to pardon, to sanc- 
 tify, and to preserve Thy servant for ever, through Thy mer- 
 cies in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen, 
 
 Onr Father, <fec. 
 
 THE END. 
 

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